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WILLIAM BACHE & CO. has successfully defended CK, 31, who was accused of losing his temper and violently assaulting his step-daughter, 19-month-old A C. At Basildon Crown Court on 14th January 2008 the jury, along with K and A's family, broke down and wept as the verdict was read out.

This is yet another example of a parent or carer facing trial on allegations of “baby shaking” and where expert opinion on what is known as “Shaken Baby Syndrome” has proved controversial, leaving juries with the difficult task of assessing highly complex medical data.

We are delighted to have been able to help Mr. K and the C family and are heartened that members of an English Jury are able to recognise the pitfalls which are all too numerous in prosecutions of this nature.

Judge Philip Clegg thanked the jury for their efforts during the five week trial and told them: "This has been an extremely difficult case. I have been in law for 40-years and I have seldom come across a case as difficult as this one. I know perfectly well it has been a great strain on you and I know the great care and attention you have paid to this case."

Andrew Scott, junior defence barrister, spoke on behalf of the family and said: "There are no winners today. There is no celebration. At the heart of this case is the death of a child who was loved and cherished by the whole family and her step father”.

A Lt. Colonel in the Army Air Corps

In April 1998 following a nine day trial, our client was found not guilty of charges of scandalous conduct and prejudicing military discipline following his relationship with a female Naval Lieutenant Commander which commenced when they were working together for the Ministry of Defence in the office of the Chief of Defence Staff.

Cpls. MH and KH

In July 1999 our above clients, together with three other accused, were instructors at the Army Training Centre at Winchester. Following allegations of abuse from recruits going through training, the instructors faced a total of 17 charges of ill-treatment. All five accused were found not guilty of all charges.

Angela Cannings:

A Salisbury mother accused of murdering two of her infant children by smothering. Convicted in April 2002 and released by the Court of Appeal in December 2003.

Angela gave birth to four children, three of whom died. The first child to die was Gemma who was lost to cot death at the age of 3 months. It was at all times accepted that this was a cot death. Jason was then born and died at the age of 7 weeks. A daughter was then born some years later and today is a lively 11 year old. Matthew was the last baby to die at the age of 4 months and it was following his death that the finger of suspicion was pointed. The Court of Appeal was given new evidence which explained that there may have been a genetic weakness in Angela's family which accounted for the deaths of the children. Angela's story is well known from the documentary, drama and news interviews about her over the years.

JW:

Father accused of murder of his infant son by shaking. Found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter and convicted in March 2004. He has served his sentence but is currently mounting an appeal to clear his name.

DL:

Father accused of murder of his infant daughter by shaking. Not guilty finding ordered by the Judge following a submission of no case to answer in April 2004.

Marianne Williams:

Mother accused of murdering her infant son by poisoning with salt. Baby Joshua had been born premature with many medical problems. He had difficulty feeding and had to be fed through a gastrostomy which is a tube going directly into the stomach. His feeds contained sodium (salt) as his body had difficulty retaining sodium levels. He had spent much of his short life going in and out of hospital and on his last visit to hospital he was found to have extremely high levels of sodium in his blood.

The prosecution accused Marianne of poisoning Joshua saying that she was unable to cope with him, whereas the defence were able to establish that Joshua died as a result of his medical problems coupled with his treatment. She was acquitted by a jury in October 2006.

I and A G:

I and A G were convicted in 2004 of the manslaughter of their foster son by poisoning with salt. They were released on appeal in March 2006 following the submission of new evidence.

The couple faced a retrial on manslaughter charges to include salt poisoning and were acquitted by the jury in March 2007.

The Gs were prospective adoptive parents of CB and his two siblings. C died at the age of three and a half years from high levels of sodium in his blood.

The couple were portrayed to be wealthy and materialistic and were accused of forcing C to eat salt as a punishment because he was behaving badly. During a seven week trial in Nottingham Crown Court the defence were able to cast grave doubt on the prosecution's case by arguing that C may have suffered from a malfunction in the hypothalamus in the brain which regulated sodium levels in the body together with a defect in his thirst mechanism.

This was another classic case of medical experts in dispute where the jury had to decipher complex evidence and come to a decision.

Cpl. D P

Cpl. P faced charges, with others, of ill-treatment of Iraqi civilians whilst they were being held in a detention centre in Basra. Unfortunately one of the civilians (Baha Mousa) died while being held in Detention and Cpl. P was accused of his manslaughter.

In February 2007 Cpl. P was found not guilty of manslaughter following a submission of no case to answer.

A Public Inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa is currently proceeding.