Court quashes mother's conviction

Michelle Dickinson was jailed for trying to kill her son

A mother's conviction for the attempted murder of her seven-year-old son has been quashed by the Court of Appeal.

But Michelle Dickinson, 32, of Seascale, Cumbria, must continue to serve a separate 16-year sentence for child cruelty.

She had been convicted of attempting to poison her son Michael with anti-epilepsy drugs after his death in a Leicester hospital in October 2000.

The Appeal Court ruled the original trial judge had misdirected the jury.

The appeal judges refused applications for a re-trial on the attempted murder charge and for a reduction in Dickinson's 16-year sentence for cruelty.

It had been alleged she suffered from Munchausen's Syndrome By Proxy, in which sufferers are said to induce or fabricate illness in others to gain attention.

Dickinson was alleged to have duped doctors into prescribing medication for Michael after wrongly claiming he had epilepsy at the age of three.

Cruelty charges

She was sentenced to life at Liverpool Crown Court in January 2003.

The trial judge said she must serve at least eight years and four months before being considered for parole.

Dickinson was originally charged with murdering Michael, but towards the end of the prosecution's case the judge allowed the indictment to be amended by adding the alternative charge of attempted murder.

Dickinson is also serving a 16-year sentence after a jury convicted her of seven child cruelty charges.

Her counsel, Tim Holroyde QC, had asked the court to cut the sentence, describing it as "crushing" and excessive for a woman who was suffering from a personality disorder.

Maximum sentence

Quashing the attempted murder conviction as "unsafe" Lord Justice Hooper, sitting with Mr Justice Aikens and Mr Justice Fulford, said the original trial judge had misdirected the jury on a crucial legal issue in the case.

But the judges rejected a claim by Crown counsel, Robert Elias, that Dickinson posed a danger to children and should be retried on the charge that she tried to kill her son.

They also dismissed arguments from Mr Holroyde, that her 16-year sentence should be reduced.

Lord Justice Hooper said it was amongst the most serious child cruelty cases and the maximum sentence had been justified.

Dismissing the sentence appeal as "without merit", the judge said: "We have no doubt that this was, on the facts of the case, a proper sentence to pass and it certainly cannot be said to be manifestly excessive".