A CHILDMINDER from Iver Heath has lost an appeal against her conviction for killing a baby in her care.

Appeal judges sitting at London's Court of Appeal today rejected submissions the conviction of Keran Henderson was “unsafe”.

She was jailed for three years in 2007 for the manslaughter of Maeve Sheppard after a Reading Crown Court jury found her guilty by a majority verdict.

The prosecution case leading to the guilty verdict was that Maeve's injuries were caused by violent shaking, but Henderson claimed the 11-month-old baby had a seizure.

Today appeal judge Lord Justice Moses, sitting with Mrs Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice Hedley, described how “every effort has been made to explore every available avenue in an understandable attempt to undermine the safety of the jury's verdict”.

But he said: “There is no basis upon which this court can say that the jury was not entitled after being properly directed by (trial judge) Mr Justice Keith to conclude that the expert evidence proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant had shaken Maeve with excessive force.”

In a statement released after today's hearing, Maeve Sheppard's parents Ruth and Mark said: "Once again this case was put forward through the appeal court and it was confirmed that Keran Henderson is guilty for the manslaughter of our daughter as charged.

"We hope that through common decency the Hendersons and their supporters will now stop making us relive the nightmare that has been our lives for the last five years.

"We would like to acknowledge the work done by the police, the CPS and the medical experts who helped obtain this conviction."