The case of Sally Clark

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Since the high profile cases involving Sally Clark and Angela Cannings, the issue of care proceedings, the standard of proof and use of medical experts in criminal trials has come under much scrutiny in both the press and the courts. This project which is based on a miscarriage of justice shall focus solely on the case of R v Sally Clark (1998) who was wrongly accused by a ten to two majority of murdering her two children and sentenced to life imprisonment for a crime that she quite simply did not commit.

Sadly, due to misleading expert advice and flaws in Britain's legal system, three years had passed before her conviction was quashed. This case has highlighted the issue of incompatability between science and our legal system in that regarding 'certainty', the courts require it but science cannot always provide it1. It has taken high profile cases such as that of Sally Clark to bring light to the difficulties that can arise when either applying science or using expert witnesses in the courtroom.

In this portfolio, the key events of Sally Clark's case as well as the evidential issues which led to her miscarriage