Murder: medical evidence: R v Sally Clark [2003] EWCA Crim 1020

The appellant, a solicitor, was convicted of the murders of her two infant sons on 9 November 1999 by a jury at Chester Crown Court. Her ll-week-old son, Christopher (C), had died on 13 December 1996, the cause of death believed at the time to be a case of sudden infant death syndrome. On 26 January 1998, her 8-week-old son, Harry (H), died and the post-mortem evidenced non-accidental injury alleged to be consistent with shaking over the course of several days. Following this finding, C's death was reviewed and it was concluded that it had also been unnatural. Proceedings were instigated against the appellant. The prosecution contended that the appellant had smothered C and shaken and suffocated H, relying on the similarities in their deaths and medical statistics stating that the probability of two cot deaths in one family was one in 73 million.