Three judges in London held that the mere presence of three classic features of shaken baby syndrome did not automatically lead to a conclusion of unlawful killing or injury. But the judges blocked the way on one route to a large number of appeals against conviction.

They rejected the argument that the classic injuries could occur without a baby having been shaken at all, which threatened to undermine hundreds of convictions. This new theory, known as the Geddes theory, “cannot be regarded as a credible or alternative cause” of the injuries regarded as consistent with baby-shaking, the judges said.

The judges also made clear that the appeals, which all involved the classic baby-shaking features of brain swelling, bleeding between the skull and the brain and behind the eyes, had all been decided on their own facts.

The ruling was hailed as vindication for Crown Prosecution Service policy. The appeal court, the CPS said, had validated its approach and it would “continue to prosecute appropriately to protect infants — the most vulnerable victims in our society”. Defence lawyers would no longer use the Geddes theory to challenge prosecutions, the CPS added.

Lord Justice Gage, sitting with Mr Justice Gross and Mr Justice McFarlane, allowed an appeal by Raymond Rock, of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, against his conviction of murdering his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter, Heidi Davis, in 1998, and reduced the verdict to manslaughter. He was alleged to have shaken the child violently, but he insisted that she had wriggled out of his arms and fell to the floor. He was still serving his sentence.

Lorraine Harris, 36, of Long Eaton, Derbyshire, who was jailed for the manslaughter of her four-month-old son, Patrick McGuire, in 2000, had her conviction quashed. She said that the baby had become ill and stopped breathing after a vaccination. He had a blood disorder, which was discovered only after his death. She has been released from prison but was banned from seeing her other child.

Michael Faulder, 34, jailed for 2½ years in 1999 for causing grievous bodily harm to a boy aged 7 weeks, was also cleared. He said that he accidentally dropped the baby while trying to put him in his pushchair. The child made a full recovery.

But the judges dismissed an appeal by Alan Cherry against his conviction in 1995 of the manslaughter of his girlfriend’s 22-month-old daughter, Sarah Eburne-Day. He denied shaking her in a fit of temper and claimed that she had stood on a stool and had fallen off. He was no longer in custody.

Rock, originally jailed for life, was given a seven-year sentence for manslaughter. His solicitor, Campbell Malone, said afterwards that he had served six years and therefore should be released immediately.

Defence lawyers argued during a two-week Court of Appeal hearing last month that medical knowledge and opinion had changed over the years to the extent that the convictions could no longer be considered safe. The jury in each case had been asked to infer from the expert evidence that the child victim had been violently mishandled by the defendant in a momentary loss of control or temper, Michael Mansfield, QC, told the court. Yet there was no other evidence about what happened and no evidence of earlier ill-treatment, he argued.

Research since 2001 had led to a reappraisal of the three features involved in shaken baby syndrome — more accurately, non-accidental head injury (NAHI) — which were swelling of the brain, bleeding between the brain and the skull, and bleeding in the retina of the eyes.

Lord Justice Gage said that courts must, when necessary, resolve questions of disputed expert evidence relating to issues in the instant case. But he added: “Courts do not act as arbiters of intra-professional debates unrelated to the issues before them.”

The judges ruled that the diagnostic triad of injuries remained valid, but with important limitations. The mere presence of the triad did not necessarily indicate NAHI, but the triad had “not been undermined” in the manner suggested by the defence.

Lisa Davis, the mother of Heidi Davis, fled from the courtroom in tears after Rock’s conviction was reduced. She said later: “I am devastated. What they are saying is that you can shake a baby to death and you are not guilty of murder. You only get manslaughter. My Heidi suffered the worst injuries that doctors had seen, including retinal detachment, at the age of 13 months.”

At least another 89 cases of “shaken baby syndrome” were looked at as part of the review. Eight, as well as yesterday’s cases, have been identified as giving rise to “sufficient cause for concern” to warrant being referred as potentially unsafe.

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