"IT WAS THE PROSECUTION CASE AT THE TRIAL, VIGOROUSLY DENIED BY HENDERSON, THAT THE BABY HAD DIED FROM INJURIES CAUSED BY HER NECK BEING SNAPPED BACK AND FORTH BY HER CHILDMINDER.
ON WEDNESDAY DURING A PRELIMINARY HEARING BEFORE ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S TOP CRIMINAL JUDGES, LORD JUSTICE HUGHES, AT THE COURT OF APPEAL, IT EMERGED THAT NEW EVIDENCE MAY CAST DOUBT ON THE ‘SAFETY’ OF THE JURY’S VERDICT."
SLOUGH OBSERVER REPORTER;
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The Slough Observer Reporter story was published today under the heading, "Keran appeal bid begins."
"childminder jailed after being convicted of killing an 11-month-old baby by shaking her, has begun a bid to clear her name," the story begins;
"Keran Henderson, of Pinewood Green, Iver Heath, was convicted of the manslaughter of Maeve Sheppard in November 2007," it continues;
"Since then friends and family have run a campaign to have her conviction overturned and she is likely to be released from jail in May after serving 18 months, half of her original sentence.
It was the prosecution case at the trial, vigorously denied by Henderson, that the baby had died from injuries caused by her neck being snapped back and forth by her childminder.
On Wednesday during a preliminary hearing before one of the country’s top criminal judges, Lord Justice Hughes, at the Court of Appeal, it emerged that new evidence may cast doubt on the ‘safety’ of the jury’s verdict.
A team of lawyers, headed by Michael Topolski QC, have applied to the court for permission for a full appeal hearing at which the new medical evidence would be put before senior judges.
They appeared before Lord Justice Hughes, the vice-president of the criminal division of the court, and Mr Justice Hedley for directions as to how to proceed with the appeal. The judges ordered that the evidence be compiled, reports produced and charts of the availability of a variety of medical experts be given to the court.
But Lord Justice Hughes said the case would be unlikely to be heard before the end of the year, despite the already long delay since Henderson was convicted.
If the Court of Appeal finds the evidence may have affected the way that the jury considered Henderson’s case, it could result in the quashing of her conviction.
No date was set for the next hearing."
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
