ich, selfish, callous….perfect villains. But as this week’s Private Eye points out, there are a number of problems with this story. The same report, from the Mirror, reveals that the experts were themselves unsure:
During the seven-week trial the Gays vehemently denied they had done anything to harm Christian. Experts could not agree about how the toddler sustained the head injury from which he died, despite the wealth of medical evidence.
Home Office pathologist Professor Helen Whitwell said the brain damage could have been caused by an impact, or forceful gripping.
Prof Whitwell insisted there was “nothing specific” to indicate the problem had been caused by too much salt and there was no evidence of a weapon being used.
Consultant paediatrician Dr Timothy Chambers said it was not safe to conclude definitively that Christian’s high blood-sodium levels were caused by ingesting salt. But he agreed with prosecutor Julia Macur QC that there was “virtually no other reason” to explain it.
There’s a history of women being accused of deliberately overdosing their children with salt. The man behind these stories?….discredited Professor Sir Roy Meadow, of “Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy” fame, whose evidence helped convict innocent mothers such as Angela Canning, Sally Clark, and Trupti Patel of murdering their babies.
The Gays were originally charged with murder, but it emerged at the trial that Christian’s bruising was too recent, and must have occurred while he was in hospital, so the shaking/beating allegation collapsed. It also emerged that Christian had suffered two episodes of heart damage, the larger one certainly before he was in the care of the Gays.
So the default option for the prosecution, in line with Sir Roy Meadow’s dubious precedent, was to opt for deliberate salt poisoning. Christian had a sodium chloride level of well above normal on admission to hospital, though not necessarily a fatal level. But how do you administer teaspoons full of salt to a toddler without force? And why? Why on earth salt? Not, you would think, a common method of punishing children, outside of the fantasies of Sir Roy Meadow.
As the Eye point out: “Probably the most troubling aspect of the case, which points to Christian having died from natural causes, is that high levels of salt were not being excreted by his kidneys, as might have been expected.” If he was being deliberately poisoned, his kidneys – which appeared healthy – should have been working hard getting rid of that salt.
A few web sites have reported on this case, as an example of how nasty people can be. “Evil fuckers” just about covers the general attitude. Maybe they’re looking in the wrong direction for the “evil fuckers”.
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