No compensation for wrongly convicted mother

The Government has turned down the compensation claim of the mother wrongly jailed for murdering her two babies.

Angela Cannings has been told by the Home Office that she will not be compensated for serving 18 months behind bars before her conviction was quashed.

The 41-year-old said she and her husband Terry now planned to appeal against the decision, adding: "This is personal and we'll carry on until we reach a satisfactory end." Mrs Cannings was found guilty in 2002 of the murders of seven-week-old Jason in 1991 and 18-week-old Matthew in 1999 on the evidence of discredited paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadows.

She was also charged with the murder of her 13-week-old daughter Gemma in 1989 but that case was dropped. It was later concluded that her two boys had died from cot death and her successful appeal against the conviction in December 2003 led to almost 300 cases being reviewed.

Mrs Cannings said: "I didn't expect another fight."

The couple lost their home in Salisbury after the battle to free her and were hoping to use any compensation to pay off some of the mortgage on their new home in Cornwall. Declaring her intention to appeal, Mrs Cannings told the Daily Mirror: "We shouldn't have to be doing this. We're worn out. But what else can we do?"

Appeal Court judges quashed Mrs Cannings's conviction after being told Professor Meadows had given "misleading" evidence in claiming three cot deaths in one family were "very, very rare".

A Home Office spokesman refused to comment on an individual case.