Meadow's Law part 1: How an Australian mother was wrongfully jailed for killing her four children

Kathleen Folbigg was convicted over the deaths of her four babies in 2003 in a case that shocked Australia.

The first three were treated as cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) but when Laura died, the authorities looked to Meadow’s Law and arrested the grieving mother.

That controversial theory held that “one sudden infant death is a tragedy, two is suspicious and three is murder until proved otherwise”.

She always maintained her innocence.

In 2023 a judicial review found that the babies may have died of a genetic condition and having served nearly two decades in prison she was freed.

Her case is now regarded as one of Australia’s greatest miscarriages of justice.

In August, the now 58-year-old woman, who was once branded “Australia’s worst mother”, was awarded just AUS$2million for 20 years of wrongful imprisonment.

The sum was far less than anyone predicted says award-winning investigative journalist Quentin McDermott. He wrote the book on Meadow’s Law and made the TV documentary that helped raise questions about the safety of her conviction, leading to the review that freed her.

In the first of two episode on the case, McDermot explains how the now discredited legal concept led police to Kathleen Folbigg's door.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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