The parents of Ms Louise Woodward, the English au pair convicted of killing American baby Matthew Eappen, have been charged with theft after an investigation into the trust fund set up for her appeal, police sources said yesterday.
Mrs Susan Woodward and Mr Gary Woodward, who are now separated, were also charged with false accounting by Cheshire police in north-west England on Monday evening, the sources said. They are due to appear in court on July 26th.
Ms Woodward defended her parents in May against allegations that they had defrauded her appeal fund. "My parents are not liars and they are not thieves," she told the Daily Mail. "They'd never steal from the trust fund. It's nonsense."
The former au pair, now studying law at a London university, was convicted of the February 1997 murder of eight-month-old Matthew but the judge reduced the verdict to manslaughter and sentenced her to "time served" - 279 days.
Massachusetts' highest court upheld the judge's ruling and, by June 1998, Ms Woodward was back home in England.
In January, Ms Woodward settled a civil lawsuit brought by the infant's parents.
Several hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for her defence. During the trial, the au pair agency which placed her paid for her defence team.
Mr Woodward's solicitor, Mr Neil Cobley, yesterday said: "I can confirm Mr Woodward attended by arrangement at Chester police station and was charged with two counts of fraud. The charges are vigorously denied."
Mrs Susan Woodward's lawyer, Mr Sean Sexton, said: "Susan Woodward vigorously denies the allegations which have been made against her and her husband.
"She is heartily sick of the vicious lies and poisonous gossip which have been directed against her and family and looks forward to the opportunity of setting the record straight when this matter comes to court."