WHO WILL APOLOGIZE TO ANNE-MARIE ROONEY? WHEN WILL THIS "SHAKEN-BABY SYNDROME" MADNESS BE STOPPED? LET SANITY PREVAIL;

"I AM UTTERLY HORRIFIED BY THE ORDEAL ANNE-MARIE ROONEY WAS PUT THROUGH BY THE BRITISH CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND ITS OFFICIALS - AS HAVE BEEN SO MANY OTHER MOTHERS AND CARE-GIVERS IN ENGLAND;"

HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;

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The signs were all there;

A loving mother grieving the loss of her child turning into an alleged killer by the state and its officials which should have been comforting her;

Slavish devotion to an unscientific dogma - so-called baby-shaking syndrome - which has long been repudiated;

The jury's rejection of medical specialists called by the state to spout this dogma in favour of the testimony of the mother who has been put through hell by the process;

The media's elevation of these specialists by terms such as "leading" and "renowned" which suggest to the public that they are infallible;

I am utterly horrified by the ordeal Anne-Marie Rooney was put through by the British criminal justice system and its officials - as have been so many other mothers and care-givers in England;

I am utterly horrified by the ordeal Suzanne Holdsworth was put forward by the British government and its officials - before her ultimate exoneration;

I am utterly horrified that Keran Henderson, also the subject of numerous posts on this Blog, is still undergoing the horror of prosecution in these circumstances;

I am utterly horrified that Anne-Marie Rooney's recent acquittal, following that of Suzanne Holdsworth, has not led to public furor, leading articles in the newspapers, debate in Parliament, calls for reviews of shaking-baby syndrome cases, reviews of prosecution policies, a public demand for compensation for the victims of this misguided "science" and their families, and a deep, public self-examination by the medical profession in Great Britain;

Let sanity - and a sense of justice and humanity - prevail;

Harold Levy; hlevy15@gmail.com;

BREAKING NEWS: ANNE-MARIE ROONEY CASE: PART 6; NOT GUILTY VERDICT AFTER ONLY SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS OF DELIBERATION; THISISGLOUCESTERSHIRE REPORTS;

"The Gloucester mum accused of killing her own baby has been found not guilty," thisisgloucestershire.com reported earlier today;

"Anne Marie Rooney, 28, of Bristol Road, Quedgeley pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of her eight-month-old son Joe," the story continued.

"It took a jury seven and a half hours to arrive at its unanimous verdict.

On the morning of July 1, 2007, baby Joe received fatal head, brain and neck injuries and was airlifted to Treliske Hospital in Truro, where he died the following day."

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

UP-DATE: ANNE-MARIE ROONEY CASE: (PART FIVE); THE JURY IS OUT; TWO AND A HALF HOUR CHARGE TO JURY AFTER THREE WEEK TRIAL;

""HIS HONOUR JUSTICE RICHARD FIELD TOOK TWO AND A HALF HOURS TO SUM UP THE CASE AT TRURO CROWN COURT, THIS MORNING AND SENT THE JURY OUT AT 1PM."

"THISISGLOUCESTERSHIRE.COM;"

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The "thisisgloucestershire" story ran earlier today under the heading, "Baby Joe trial: Jury sent out."

"Jurors in the Baby Joe trial have been sent out to consider their verdict," the story began.

"Anne-Marie Rooney, 28, of Bristol Road, Quedgeley has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of her eight month old baby son Joe," the story continued;

"His Honour Justice Richard Field took two and a half hours to sum up the case at Truro Crown Court, this morning and sent the jury out at 1pm.

He told the six men and five women (one juror dropped out earlier in the trial due to family bereavement) that they should first endeavor to reach a unanimous verdict.

Joseph Rooney suffered head, neck and brain injuries in the family caravan in St Merryn, near Padstow, North Cornwall, on July 1, 2007.

He was air lifted to Treliske Hospital in Truro by air ambulance but died the following day.

The trial has lasted for three weeks."

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

UP-DATE: ANNE-MARIE ROONEY CASE; (PART 4); DEVELOPMENT; PROSECUTOR ABANDONS "MURDER"; JURY TOLD ONLY TO CONSIDER "MANSLAUGHTER", BBC NEWS REPORTS;

"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;

UP-DATE: ANNE MARIE ROONEY CASE; (PART THREE): TRIAL WINDING UP; HER PHOTO PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME; JUDGE TO SUM UP CASE TO JURY ON TUESDAY;

THISISGLOUCESTERSHIRE.COM;

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"As Anne-Marie Rooney's trial winds up, Thisisgloucestershire.com has published, what it says is the first picture of Ms. Rooney to emerge.

The story appears today under the heading: "Picture of mum accused of baby murder."

"THIS is the first picture of the Gloucester mother accused of murdering her baby boy," the story begins."

"Anne-Marie Rooney, 28, of Bristol Road, Quedgeley, is pictured as she left Truro Crown Court," the story continues;

Rooney, 28, has denied murdering eight-month-old Joseph at St Merryn, near Padstow, in Cornwall, in July 2007.

She has also denied a second charge of his manslaughter.

On Monday, prosecuting barrister Martin Meeke QC and defending barrister Maura McGowan QC will make their closing speeches after a three-week trail.

His Honour Judge Richard Field will sum up the case on Tuesday and the jury will be sent out to consider its verdict.

The Rooneys had travelled down to Cornwall along with friends some 22 months ago to look for temporary work and had parked their caravans at Trevisker Farm camp site.

But on the morning of July 1, baby Joe received fatal head, brain and neck injuries and was airlifted to Treliske Hospital in Truro, where he died the following day.

The prosecution maintained that the injuries were caused by the defendant shaking her baby violently, but the defence said the injuries were caused by the child falling headfirst from a bed onto the hard, linoleum floor of their trailer.

Both prosecution and defence counsel called some of the country's leading medical experts to support their claims.

And Anne-Marie Rooney took the stand at the beginning of last week when she stressed that she would never hurt baby Joe. The mum will learn her fate next week."

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;

UP-DATE: THE ANNE-MARIE ROONEY CASE: PART TWO; ANNE MARIE TESTIFIES SHE SHOOK HER BABY TO REVIVE IT AFTER IT FELL FROM THE BED; TRIAL CONTINUES;

"EARLIER THE COURT HEARD HOW ROONEY HAD TOLD POLICE IN INTERVIEW THAT SHE DIDN'T KNOW HOW HARD SHE HAD SHAKEN HER BABY.

"I DIDN'T SHAKE HIM TO KILL HIM, OR TO CAUSE HIM HARM – I SHOOK HIM BECAUSE HE WAS SCREAMING AND GOING UNCONSCIOUS," SHE TOLD OFFICERS.

ROONEY HAS PLEADED NOT GUILTY TO MURDERING JOE AT TREVISKER FARM CAMP SITE, ST MERRYN, NEAR PADSTOW IN NORTH CORNWALL, ON JULY 1, 2007."

THE CORNISHMAN;

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The Cornishman's story on the on-going trial was published today under the heading, "I shook baby after he fell from the bed."

"A MOTHER accused of murdering her eight-month-old son broke down in the witness box as she explained to a court she shook her baby in a desperate bid to revive him after a fall," the story, which runs without a by-line, begins.

"Anne Marie Rooney, of Bristol Road, Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, recalled picking up baby Joe, shaking and cradling him in her arms to try to bring him round, a jury at Truro Crown Court was told yesterday," the story continues;

"The 27-year-old said: "He was laying face down on the floor – he was screaming and crying and he was red in the face.

"I picked him up by his babygrow but his face started to go whiter and whiter, his eyes rolled back in his head and his arms went floppy. He then went blue."

Demonstrating what she did next, the distraught defendant went on: "I turned him around, shook him, cradled him in my arms, shook him again and shouted 'Joe, Joe, come on Joe!'.

"I then took him outside to my friend Kathleen's caravan and said to her 'please help him, please fix him'."

Earlier the court heard how Rooney had told police in interview that she didn't know how hard she had shaken her baby.

"I didn't shake him to kill him, or to cause him harm – I shook him because he was screaming and going unconscious," she told officers.

Rooney has pleaded not guilty to murdering Joe at Trevisker Farm camp site, St Merryn, near Padstow in North Cornwall, on July 1, 2007.

She also denies his manslaughter.

The Crown maintains baby Joe was a victim of "shaken baby syndrome" and had suffered "devastating" head, brain and neck injuries.

A member of the travelling community, the defendant told the court yesterday how she was "delighted" when she discovered she was pregnant with Joe. She also said she had named her new baby after her own father.

"Joe was a very good baby – he never whinged or moaned and he ate well," she said in answer to questions from defence barrister Maura McGowan QC.

Mrs McGowan asked: "So what happened on the morning of Sunday, July 1, 2007?"

Rooney explained how her husband Felix had driven down to the wash block and she had put baby Joe in the middle of her bed and plumped up the duvet around him.

She told how she left the trailer to deposit some rubbish outside, the door had blown shut and she heard a second bang.

When she went back inside, her son was laying face down on the linoleum floor.

Friends drove him into Padstow, where an air ambulance took him to Treliske Royal Cornwall Hospital near Truro, where he died the following day.

The trial continues."

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;