Paediatric medico-legal reports
Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma: Expert Reports
Shaken baby syndrome cases turn on independent expert evidence and a careful differential diagnosis. We provide paediatric expert reports on shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma, assessing whether the findings are consistent with the accounts given and what alternative explanations exist. We use court-experienced consultants. You see the expert’s CV before you instruct. The report is written to the expert’s CPR Part 35 duty to the court. We act for instructing solicitors on either side.
Overview
What shaken baby syndrome means in a case
Shaken baby syndrome, or abusive head trauma, describes a pattern of head injury attributed to shaking. It is a medically and legally contested area, and the expert’s role is an independent differential diagnosis, not advocacy.
Why it matters legally
Contested evidence, closely examined in court
These cases arise most often in criminal proceedings and family care proceedings, where the reliability of the expert evidence is closely examined.
Reports we produce
The report a shaken baby syndrome case relies on
Experts who assess it
The paediatric specialists on a shaken baby syndrome case
A consultant paediatrician, a paediatric radiologist for fracture dating, and a paediatric neuroradiologist for the head imaging.
Case-type context
Where these cases sit
These cases sit most often in criminal proceedings in non-accidental injury and family care proceedings, where the reliability of the expert evidence is closely examined.
FAQ
Shaken baby syndrome: common questions
The court examines whether the findings are truly diagnostic and whether alternative explanations have been properly considered; our reports address this directly.
It includes birth-related findings, medical conditions affecting bleeding or the brain, and accidental trauma, each of which the expert weighs independently.
A contested pattern of head injury attributed to shaking; the diagnosis depends on careful, independent assessment.
They can include bleeding around the brain and eyes and brain swelling; these findings require independent interpretation rather than assumption.
In family care proceedings our experts can act as a single joint expert where the parties agree; in criminal proceedings they are party-appointed. Either way, the report is written to the expert’s duty to the court.
Instructing on a shaken baby syndrome case?
Send your case details and we will allocate a court-experienced consultant within 48 hours, with a same-working-day quotation and the CV before you instruct.