British couple finally cleared of murdering their son.

Whilst not strictly a ‘shaken baby’ case, this is yet another tragic story of a couple whose young son (just four months old) died of natural causes that went undiagnosed (rickets), and then were accused of his murder. While cleared in the criminal courts last December, shamefully, they were then dragged through the horror of the family courts too. They also had their second child, a daughter born in 2010, removed by social services. In the criminal case against them, 60 medical witnesses could not agree on a cause of death. However, all the charges against them have now been dropped and their daughter returned to them. Not only have they and their daughter had to live through this horrific saga, but their son – with an early diagnosis, could have lived. Such stories are heartbreaking and yet continue to occur, despite high profile cases where parents (normally mothers) are wrongly convicted of killing their child, where medical practitioners cannot agree on a cause of death. The case of Cannings in the Appeal Courts should have stopped such outrages. Read more here…