60 Minutes: Apr 17

On 60 Minutes this Sunday, the 1997 trial of a British nanny who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter of an eight-month-old American baby.

The Trial of Louise Woodward
It was one of the most controversial court cases of all time and even now, 25 years later, its outcome remains hotly disputed. In 1997, eight-month-old Mathew Eappen was in the care of his young British nanny, Louise Woodward, when she made a panicked call to emergency services claiming he was unresponsive. Despite receiving immediate medical attention, Matthew died a few days later in hospital. But instead of accepting the 18-year-old nanny’s account of how she found the baby, police were convinced it was murder, and that in a fit of rage Woodward had caused catastrophic injuries to Matthew by violently shaking him. What followed was an astonishing trial, televised around the world, that pitted medical expert against medical expert and questioned the very definition of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Reporter: Tom Steinfort
Producer: Johanna Hamilton, ITV (UK)

7pm Sunday on Nine.