On Friday 16th March Sally Clark tragically died in her home. In 1999 Sally was sentenced to two life terms for the murder of her two sons, 11 week of Christopher and 8 week old Harry. Sally always protested her innocence and in 2003 at her second appeal hearing she was acquitted for the murder of the two boys.
The acquittal centred on two major factors. The finding that the both boys bodies contained lethal amounts of bacteria and the failings of a statistic suggested by paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadows who said that the possibility of two children in the same family dying on cot death was "1 in 73 million." The collapse of this statistic, which in truth was a 1 in 200 chance, lead the way for hundred of cases similar to Sally Clarks to be revived. Angela Canning and Donna Anthony were two women who where acquitted and released from jail as a result of it.
Time Line:
DECEMBER 1996 - Sally's son, Christopher, aged 11 weeks, is found dead while husband Stephen is out.
JANUARY 1996 - Sally's second son, Harry, dies aged 8 weeks.
FEBRUARY 1998 - Sally Clark is arrested.
OCTOBER 1999 - Sally goes on trial at Chester Crown Court. Professor Roy Meadow, as a witness, says there is a "one in 73million" chance of two cot deaths in an affluent family.
NOVEMBER 1999 - Sally is found guilty and given 2 life sentences.
OCTOBER 2000 - The first appeal fails.
JANUARY 2003 - Sally's conviction is quashed by the court if appeal.
JUNE 2005 - Professor Meadow appears before the GMC over Sally Clark's trial.
AUGUST 2005 - Meadow lodges an appeal in the high court against a decision by the GMC to strike him off.
JANUARY 2006 - Meadow launches his high court challenge.
FEBRUARY 2006 - Meadow wins his appeal against being struck off.
MARCH 2007 - Sally dies.
.