Jailed mother will appeal

Ruth Neave, cleared last week of murdering her son Rikki, six, is to appeal against her seven-year jail sentence for child cruelty and other offences.

Her lawyers believe that the sentence was too long and that the judge at Northampton Crown Court, Mr Justice Popplewell, had not taken sufficient account of the trauma Neave, 28, had suffered as the result of her son's death.