STORY: "Agony of the couple wrongly accused twice of shaking four-month- old son to death: Social workers exacerbated their ordeal by taking second baby at birth," by reporter Claire Ellicott published by the Mail on April 19, 2012."
GIST: 'A young couple who were in effect tried and cleared twice of shaking their baby son to death called last night for an inquiry into their ‘agonising’ treatment at the hands of social services, the NHS and the police. Rohan Wray and Chana Al-Alas were accused of killing four-month-old Jayden, who died of severe head injuries. While awaiting trial, they lost custody of the little boy’s younger sister, Jayda. They were cleared of all criminal charges when it emerged their son had been suffering from rickets which causes weak bones and could explain his injuries. However, their local council refused to return Jayda to her parents because it remained convinced they may have been responsible for her brother’s death. The couple then endured a four-week hearing at the High Court during which the same accusations were levelled at them. Yesterday, in a landmark judgment, they were cleared for a second time, and later they spoke bitterly of their treatment. Mr Wray, 22, said: ‘There are medical staff who we believe should be disciplined at an inquiry. I think these medical experts who judge parents are dangerous people. They base much of what they say on opinion rather than fact.’ His partner Miss Al-Alas, 19, added: ‘The doctors and the police made allegations against us without any real proof, then they acted on these allegations.’"
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
