THE cases of two Salisbury mothers, each currently serving two life sentences for murdering their babies, have stood the law on its head - placing countless innocent mothers in the impossible position of having to prove that their babies died of natural causes - or face the rest of their lives behind bars.

The lawyer of Sally Clark, convicted in 1999 of killing her two infant sons, spoke to the Journal of his belief that Sally will be exonerated and his hope that her ordeal will herald a sea-change in the way the law treats mothers, saving dozens of women from incarceration.

John Batt compared the case of Sally Clark, the daughter of former Salisbury police chief Frank Lockyer, to some of the most infamous miscarriages of justice of our era, including the Orkney and Cleveland child abuse scandals.

He described self-proclaimed experts on infant death as "hawks of child abuse", blaming them for creating a climate of persecution and paranoia that causes suspicion automatically to fall upon any woman who suffers more than one cot death.

Mr Batt said: "There is an undeniable parallel with the 17th Century Salem witchcraft trials. Self-appointed witch finders pointed the finger.

"If a woman admitted to being a witch she would be returned to her community. If she denied it, she would be tortured."

Mr Batt said that at least four more "cot death" cases are in the pipeline and have yet to come to court.

Salisbury mother Angela Cannings was convicted of killing two of her babies at Winchester Crown Court in April and given a mandatory life sentence for murder. She is awaiting a date for appeal.