§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cases of parents gaoled for shaking their babies to death are to be reviewed in the light of the Angela Cannings appeal judgement. [152133]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI have been asked to reply.
Since the release of Angela Cannings by the Court of Appeal and its published judgment, the Attorney General has instigated a number of measures. A total of 258 convictions over the last 10 years for the murder, manslaughter or infanticide of a child under two by its parent have been identified. Of those, a total of 72 relate to persons still serving a custodial sentence. These will be accorded the utmost priority. Currently, some 365 boxes of evidence relating to 52 high priority cases have been recovered from central storage and dispatched to CPS areas for them to conduct an initial review. The remaining high priority cases are being recovered from the areas themselves.
Once the review becomes fully under way, the offences comprising the 258 convictions and the issue at trial will become clearer. Once that stage has been reached and more information is known on these cases it will be possible for me to write further to you with additional information.