Nanny's trial opens in US

Nanny's trial opens in US

The teenage nanny Louise Woodward went on trial in the United States yesterday charged with the murder of a nine-month-old baby in her care.

The process of selecting a jury, which could take up to two days, began in the Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Miss Woodward, 19, from Elton, near Chester, is charged with the first degree murder of Matthew Eappen while working for his parents in February this year.

More than 120 potential jurors packed into courtroom 12A in the multi- storey court building to fill in detailed questionnaires before being questioned individually by prosecution and defence teams before the panel of 12 jurors, with four alternates, will be selected. Miss Woodward will be given a life sentence without parole if convicted. She denies committing the crime, although admits she did shake the little boy in panic after finding him not breathing.