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Pensioner cleared of causing baby’s death after jury decides undiagnosed dementia is insanity

Shelagh Robertson walked free from court after jurors found that her undiagnosed dementia was to blame for causing a crash which killed a baby boy - Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Shelagh Robertson walked free from court after jurors found that her undiagnosed dementia was to blame for causing a crash which killed a baby boy - Joe Giddens/PA Wire

A pensioner charged with causing a baby boy’s death through careless driving has walked free from court after jurors found that her undiagnosed dementia was to blame.

In what is understood to be an extremely rare case, the jury at Cambridge Crown Court decided that Shelagh Robertson could not be held responsible for the death as did not know what she was doing at the time because she was unknowingly suffering from the disease.

The 75-year-old was driving home from a shopping trip to Tesco when she turned into the path of a van on the A10 at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire on Jan 22 last year.

The collision forced the van onto the pavement, where it hit Rachael Thorold and her five-month-old son Louis, killing him and throwing Mrs Thorold into the air, causing her serious injuries.

Judge Mark Bishop told jurors that in order to return a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, they must be satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that Mrs Robertson had dementia at the time and either did not know what she was doing, or did not know that what she was doing was wrong.

He said that this “doesn’t include a momentary failure to concentrate”.

Chris and Rachael Thorold speak outside Cambridge Crown Court after pensioner Shelagh Robertson was found not guilty of causing son Louis' death - Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Chris and Rachael Thorold speak outside Cambridge Crown Court after pensioner Shelagh Robertson was found not guilty of causing son Louis' death - Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Jurors found Mrs Robertson not guilty by reason of insanity on Friday, following just over seven hours of deliberations.

Mrs Robertson, of Stables Yard, Waterbeach, who sat beside her solicitor and a family member in the well of the court, used a hearing loop to listen to the jury foreperson read out the verdict.

She appeared expressionless as the verdict was returned.

Mrs Thorold and her husband Chris, who sat in the public gallery, looked down at the floor clearly distressed, with Mr Thorold shaking his head.

Louis and Rachel Thorold - Cambridgeshire Police/PA Wire
Louis and Rachel Thorold - Cambridgeshire Police/PA Wire

James Leonard, defending, told the trial it was “obvious” Mrs Robertson’s driving “fell below the standard of a reasonable and competent driver”.

But he said that Mrs Robertson was “ill-equipped to negotiate” the junction because of her dementia and that she was unaware of her condition as she was undiagnosed at the time.

“She’s trying to be safe, but she just doesn’t have the presence of mind to be safe,” Mr Leonard said.

Adam Zeman, a professor of cognitive behavioural neurology at the University of Exeter, was called by the defence as an expert witness.

He told jurors that the defendant had “dementia caused most probably by Alzheimer’s disease in a slightly atypical presentation”.

Dashcam footage - Cambridgeshire Police/PA Wire
Dashcam footage - Cambridgeshire Police/PA Wire

Prof Zeman said Mrs Robertson would have been at “high risk of becoming confused at that junction and one possible outcome of the confusion would be to look the wrong way”.

He added that she had “few close relatives” and her husband was “severely unwell”, which was significant as “it’s often the spouses who bring you along” for a dementia diagnosis.

David Matthew, prosecuting, said in his closing speech: “There’s no doubt here that Shelagh Robertson is suffering from a form of dementia and was suffering from it in January 2021.”

He said that an MRI scan of Mrs Robertson’s brain – which showed shrinkage of a part of the brain associated with memory and language, taken in September or October of last year – is “strong evidence of that”.

Flowers at the junction where five-month-old Louis Thorold died - Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Flowers at the junction where five-month-old Louis Thorold died - Joe Giddens/PA Wire

However, he raised the question of “where on the slope of dementia Shelagh Robertson was in January 2021”.

“It’s not just a question of whether someone has dementia. It’s a question of how bad is it,” he said.

Speaking outside court following the verdict, Louis’ father described the incident as a “life sentence” for his family.

Mr Thorold said: “Every moment we had with Louis was so special. Louis knew only love and cuddles before he was killed by Shelagh Robertson. Louis’ future and all his potential stolen, a life sentence for us, his family, our community, and everyone who hears this story.”