FOUR-month-old Patrick Harris died on 6 December 1999. But his grief-stricken mother, Lorraine, lost more than her son. She also lost her freedom.
Shortly after Patrick’s death, a post-mortem revealed three distinct signs that he had been abused. His brain was swollen, its surface was covered in blood clots known as subdural haematomas, and there was bleeding behind the retinas in Patrick’s eyes. Any one of the symptoms might have been accidental, but all three together were taken as a sign that Patrick was a victim of shaken baby syndrome. An English court agreed and found Lorraine guilty of manslaughter.…
