Annette Brooke MP responds to statement on Angela Cannings case by Margaret Hodge

6.00.00pm GMT Tue 24th Feb 2004

Local MP Annette Brooke responded to the Statement on Expert Witnesses in Family Court Cases by the Rt. Hon. Margaret Hodge given in the House of Commons yesterday.

Margaret Hodge, Minister for Children, announced the government's response to the Court of Appeal's judgement in the appeal against the conviction of Angela Cannings. Social services departments in local councils across the country will have four weeks to review their current cases and twelve weeks to assess all previous care orders involving "serious disagreement" between medical experts.

Annette Brooke MP said:

"I welcome the Minister's statement and the review of cases. However, I believe that the Police, social services and other professionals must not be discouraged from fully investigating all cases where there is suspected child abuse.

"It is of course vital that all cases involving disputes between expert witnesses should be reconsidered and examined.

"It is not enough for the Minister to tell concerned birth parents, adoptive parents, adopted children or children in care who believe they may have suffered a miscarriage of justice to seek legal advice. Such advice should be more forthcoming, for example, by setting up a helpline for them."

"I urge the government to ensure that adequate resources are made available and hard-pressed authorities should not have to carry further burdens on their social service budgets."

Since the Angela Cannings case, it has been revealed that there many be several hundreds or even thousands of miscarriages of justice where children have been removed from their families - either taken into care or adopted - on the basis of disputed medical evidence.

The observation by the expert witness Sir Roy Meadow that "one sudden infant death is a tragedy, two is suspicious and three is murder, unless proven otherwise" became known as "Meadow's law" and was very influential in the convictions of several women accused of murdering their babies and also of 'child abuse' cases.