A Wiltshire mother cleared of killing her babies has launched a scathing attack on the professor whose controversial expert medical witness helped jail her for murder.

Angela Cannings, from Salisbury, says in a television interview that she has been 'permanently scarred' by her experience and attacks Professor Sir Roy Meadow for assuming she was a murderer.

The professor, whose testimony formed the backbone of the Cannings trial and a number of other high-profile cases, is to face a General Medical Council professional conduct committee over allegations against him.

The clearing of Mrs Cannings of the murder of her two baby sons was the latest in a number of recent similar cases and prompted the Government's review of cot death legal cases this week.

The cases could involve up to 5,000 people, some of whom were convicted of killing their children based on expert testimony from Professor Meadow.

In an interview with ITV1's Tonight With Trevor McDonald programme, Mrs Cannings says of Professor Meadow: 'I listened to him give his evidence. I was looking at a man who was assuming that something criminal had happened.

'I couldn't accept that he had never come to meet us to talk about the events and yet he was making all these assumptions that something criminal was going on.'

Mrs Cannings, 40, had her life sentence overturned by the Court of Appeal in December.

Professor Meadow's evidence was also used in the high profile prosecutions of Sally Clark and Trupti Patel.

Mrs Clark's 1999 conviction for murdering her two baby sons was overturned in February, while Mrs Patel was cleared of killing her three babies in June.

The professor has referred to the theory of Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, which suggests some mothers harm their children to draw attention to themselves.

FOR more Bristol, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset and Wiltshire news, order a regular copy of the Sunday Independent. FIRST. BEST. EVERY SUNDAY...