Clark, Sally

Sally Clark was convicted in November 1999 of murder and received a sentence of life imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in November 2001.

Ms Clark had been convicted of the murder of her two baby boys following their sudden deaths.

At trial, expert evidence as to the statistical improbability of multiple cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in one family had been central to the prosecution’s case.

During review, the CCRC obtained fresh expert evidence that at the time of his death one of the babies, Harry, was suffering from an overwhelming staphylococcal infection.

This evidence was not available at Ms Clark’s trial.

The CCRC further considered that there was a real possibility the Court of Appeal would find both murder convictions to be unsafe.

The CCRC considered that consequent upon the new evidence as to the cause of Harry’s death, the expert evidence as to the cause of death of the other baby, Christopher, merited re-evaluation.

The CCRC concluded that the medical and statistical evidence at trial had been misleading and, in addition, that there had been serious non-disclosure of important bacteriological evidence.

The CCRC referred the conviction in March 2002.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in January 2003.