"PROSECUTOR MARTIN MEEKE QC SAID THAT FOR MRS ROONEY TO BE CONVICTED OF MURDER THE PROSECUTION HAD TO PROVE SHE HAD EITHER INTENDED TO KILL OR CAUSE SERIOUS HARM.
HE SAID THAT, ALTHOUGH PROSECUTORS BELIEVED IT WAS RIGHT FOR THE JURY TO CONSIDER MANSLAUGHTER, "WE ARE UNEASY ASKING THE JURY TO CONSIDER A COUNT OF MURDER"."
BBC NEWS:
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BBC News reported earlier today that the jury trying Anne-Marie Rooney for the killing of her eight-month old son may only consider "manslaughter."
"The jury in the trial of a woman accused of causing her baby son's death by shaking has been told it must now only consider a manslaughter verdict," the story begins, under the heading: "Jury told 'consider manslaughter;'"
"Anne-Marie Rooney, of Gloucestershire, had been accused of murdering eight-month-old Joseph at a caravan park in Cornwall on 1 July 2008," the story continues;
"But prosecutors at Truro Crown Court said they had reviewed the case and felt uneasy" about the murder charge.
Mrs Rooney, who denies all charges, claims she shook her son to revive him.
Prosecutor Martin Meeke QC said that for Mrs Rooney to be convicted of murder the prosecution had to prove she had either intended to kill or cause serious harm.
He said that, although prosecutors believed it was right for the jury to consider manslaughter, "we are uneasy asking the jury to consider a count of murder".
'Serious' injuries
Mrs Rooney, a member of the travelling community from Gloucestershire, was staying with her husband at a holiday park near St Merryn looking for work.
On 1 July she carried her injured son into a friend's caravan and asked her to "fix it", claiming she had found him crying and red in the face.
She said he had become white and floppy after she had "gently" shaken Joseph to revive him.
The friend took Joseph to a nearby supermarket where staff attempted to revive him, but he died the next day in hospital.
The prosecution said he had suffered serious head, eye and neck injuries after being shaken.
Mrs Rooney was originally being tried on one count of murder and an alternative count of manslaughter.
The judge is due to sum up the case on Tuesday."
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
