Britain: A British woman cleared of murdering three of her own babies said last night she was looking forward to "getting back to some sort of normality".
Ms Trupti Patel (35) sobbed and embraced her husband Jayant after she was found not guilty of the three counts of murder at Reading Crown Court, in Berkshire, England.
It took the jury of 10 men and a woman just 1½ hours to return the not guilty verdicts after a trial which lasted nearly 6½ weeks.
Ms Patel, a qualified pharmacist, had always denied killing her two baby sons, Amar and Jamie, and baby daughter, Mia, none of whom survived beyond the age of three months.
There was a loud roar of "Yes" and emotional scenes among Ms Patel's family and supporters as the foreman of the jury read out the not guilty verdicts. Many sobbed and hugged each other as the court emptied.
The judge, Mr Justice Jack, said only: "Mrs Patel may be discharged." Speaking on the steps of the court, a clearly relieved Mrs Patel said she was "absolutely delighted" by the verdicts.
Asked whether the case should ever have been brought to court, she replied "absolutely not".
"Words cannot describe how we have been feeling," she said. "It should never have come to court." When asked what she and her husband would be doing next, she replied: "Getting back to some sort of normality." She added that her family, many of whom had attended every day of the trial, had been "tremendous".
"They have never wavered," she said. "That is what families are about."
It can be revealed today that Mrs Patel was originally charged with attempting to murder her surviving child.
That charge was dropped before the case began and a not guilty verdict was entered before the start of the trial.
All three of Mrs Patel's children collapsed suddenly at the family home in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in separate incidents between 1997 and 2001. - (PA)