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Appeal decision victory for mum
A crusading Wigan solicitor has won a high profile battle to help a mother wrongly convicted of shaking her baby to death.
Mike Pemberton, manager of the crime/special cases department of Wigan solicitors Stephensons, has secured the right to appeal over the government's denial of compensation for time wrongly spent in prison for the woman later cleared of any wrong-doing.
His victory will be featured on the BBC's Inside Out programme next week.
The decision is being seen as a test case that will be used for similar victims of miscarriages of justice.
Lorraine Allen - formerly Harris – was convicted of the manslaughter of her four-month-old son, Patrick, in 2000, after prosecution experts claimed the only explanation for his collapse was violent shaking or shaking plus impact.
Hers was one of the high-profile "shaken-baby" cases.
She was sentenced to three years imprisonment and a child born while she was serving that sentence was taken away from her and placed for adoption.
However, Ms Allen's conviction was quashed in 2005, after fresh medical evidence proved it to be unsafe.
As a victim of a miscarriage of justice, she applied for compensation but this was refused by the Home Secretary because her claim, it was argued, did not meet the statutory criteria.
But she has now learned she will be able to appeal against a previous decision that barred her from claiming compensation.
Mr Pemberton, a specialist in human rights and judicial review cases, who is based on Library Street, Wigan, said: "This has been a long road for Lorraine. Nothing can rectify the loss of her son Patrick, the subsequent miscarriage of justice and adoption of her second child as she began her sentence. However, this appeal allows her continued hope that some kind of just closure will be obtained and allows her to deal with the traumatic events she has endured."
Her story will be aired on TV on April 1.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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