Agony of the couple wrongly accused TWICE of shaking four-month-old son to death: Social workers exacerbated their ordeal by taking second baby at birth

• They first walked free in December last year after being cleared of killing four-month-old Jayden
• Later faced allegations over the death in the civil family courts from local authority
• Yesterday a judge found the allegations hadn't been proved
  
• They will now have their daughter returned to their care
  

By Claire Ellicott for the Daily Mail

Published: 14:02 EDT, 19 April 2012 | Updated: 20:42 EDT, 19 April 2012

A young couple who were in effect tried and cleared twice of shaking their baby son to death called last night for an inquiry into their ‘agonising’ treatment at the hands of social services, the NHS and the police.

Rohan Wray and Chana Al-Alas were accused of killing four-month-old Jayden, who died of severe head  injuries. While awaiting trial, they lost custody of the little boy’s younger  sister, Jayda.

They were cleared of all criminal charges when it emerged their son had been suffering from rickets which causes weak bones and could explain his injuries.

Success: Chana Al-Alas and Rohan Wray (pictured) have won a High Court battle to prove their innocence over the death of their baby son

Charges of murder and causing or allowing Jayden's (pictured) death were dropped following a six-week trial

However, their local council refused to return Jayda to her parents because it remained convinced they may have been responsible for her brother’s death.

The couple then endured a four-week hearing at the High Court during which the same accusations were levelled at them.

Yesterday, in a landmark judgment, they were cleared for a second time, and later they spoke bitterly of their treatment. Mr Wray, 22, said: ‘There are medical staff who we believe should be disciplined at an inquiry. I think these medical experts who judge parents are dangerous people. They base much of what they say on opinion rather than fact.’

His partner Miss Al-Alas, 19, added: ‘The doctors and the police made allegations against us without any real proof, then they acted on these allegations.’

Their nightmare began in July 2009 when Jayden, their first child, began suffering seizures and refusing to feed.

Doctors failed to identify that he had rickets and his condition continued to deteriorate. He died at Great Ormond Street hospital in London.

After he was found to have multiple fractures and severe brain damage, his parents, from Islington, North London, were charged with murder and causing or allowing Jayden’s death.

Jayda was born in October 2010 and was immediately taken from the couple.

In December 2011 an Old Bailey judge ordered not guilty verdicts to be returned because there was insufficient evidence to convict after more than 60 prosecution and defence medical experts had failed to agree on a cause of death. The court heard that Miss Al-Alas suffered from a severe vitamin D deficiency that would have been passed to Jayden, causing injuries that led to his death.

'A very much wanted baby': Chana cuddles Jayden when he was two months old

But Islington Council remained concerned for Jayda’s safety  and, because the couple had not been acquitted by a jury, chose to stage in effect a re-run of the criminal case.

Handing down her judgment yesterday, Mrs Justice Theis paid tribute to Jayden’s parents, saying: ‘Despite the parents’ youth and the fact the pregnancy was unplanned, Jayden was very much a wanted baby.’

Sitting at the High Court’s family division in London, she said the case against the pair was not proved and called for more research into vitamin D deficiency and its effects on young children. She said: ‘The issues surrounding vitamin D deficiency have dominated this hearing.

‘Evidence has been given that it is on the increase, leading possibly to an increase in congenital rickets.

‘The identification of it is not easily done, as this case so graphically demonstrated.’

The disease, which was discovered at Jayden’s post mortem, weakens the skulls of children and causes their bones to break easily – symptoms which closely  mimic those of a deliberately shaken baby.

Mr Wray said: ‘We feel we were treated very poorly by the state authorities involved in investigating our case. We were viewed as guilty from the outset.

‘They went down the line that we had done this to our son by shaking him.

‘If the doctors had found the rickets problem, we feel our son could still be alive today. But our agony at losing Jayden was exacerbated when we were accused of killing him.’

Police refused to let the couple or their family attend Jayden’s christening, which they requested before his life support machine was switched off.

Victory after agony: Rohan and Chana pose after their High Court victory

They were not allowed into the paediatric intensive care ward to see him when he died.

But the parents said the most heartbreaking moment of their ordeal was when their newborn daughter was taken from them.

Mr Wray said: ‘Since the Baby P tragedy social workers, the police and doctors have become over-keen to snatch children from innocent parents.

‘We feel that they should look more closely at the facts of each case before pointing the finger of blame.’

Ann Thompson of law firm Goodman Ray, representing Miss Al-Alas, said: ‘Nothing is as sad as the death of a child.

‘But for these parents, the nightmare went on and on.

‘It was compounded by the criminal investigation and then the loss of their daughter without being able to bond with her.

‘They are delighted and relieved that they can finally be allowed to grieve for their son and be reunited with their daughter.’

Islington Council declined  to comment.