Study boosts Clark

The campaign to free Sally Clark, the solicitor jailed in 1999 for murdering her two baby boys, gathered momentum last week with the publication of new scientific evidence casting doubt on the assertion - made during her trial - that there was a 'one in 73 million' chance that both boys died of natural causes.The 'one in 73 million' claim, made by leading paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadow, was dismissed as 'poor science and just plain wrong' by, among others, Peter Donnelly, professor of statistical science at Oxford University, during an investigation by BBC Radio Five Live and The Observer newspaper.

The statistic was not challenged in the original criminal trial.The investigation also focused on the discovery earlier this year by scientists at Manchester University of a 'cot death gene' which could vastly increase the chances of a double cot death in one family.

Sir Roy's statistic was calculated on the two events being entirely unconnected.John Batt, Clark's solicitor, stressed that the genetic research was at an early stage, but said he was 'tremendously encouraged' by the findings.

The legal team is hoping to assemble enough fresh evidence to present to the Criminal Cases Review Commission later this year, and Mr Batt said: 'There are a number of grounds for appeal but the discovery of this gene, although it is very early days, could be of huge significance.'See Press Round-Up, page 12Victoria MacCallum