THERE were those convinced of Maxine Robinson's guilt long before she was ever convicted by a jury in 1995. Her two children had died in their beds and, they thought, it had to be more than a coincidence.

Added to that, a daughter from a previous marriage had also died in mysterious circumstances - a suspected cot death.

The whispers about Robinson started soon after five-month-old Anthony and 19-month-old Christine were found dead.

Neighbours in Ouston, near Chester-le-Street, were sure something sinister had occurred.

Within weeks of the tragedy, Robinson and her husband, Peter, were forced to flee their home after angry locals daubed the word "Killers" on their home.

Speculation mounted that Robinson, then aged 25, had murdered her children to regain the attention she had when her first child, Victoria, died.

Robinson had received training in resuscitation after the death of nine-month-old Victoria, in 1989.

But the jury in her trial at Sheffield Crown Court was told she did nothing to try to revive Anthony and Christine.

While her frantic husband raced for help, Robinson was said to have just sat in a chair downstairs.

After lengthy post-mortem examinations, police decided to prosecute and her husband agreed to testify against her.

At her trial, it was alleged she suffocated the children with a pillow, one after the other, on a June night in 1993.

More than two hours later, Robinson told her husband she was going to check on them - and returned minutes later to tell him, without emotion: "I think the bairns are dead."

It was argued by Robinson's legal team that the children could have been victims of cot death.

It was suggested they may have suffered a fatal reaction to a combination of being out in the sun all day and playing in their paddling pool. Robinson had suffered throughout her life with eczema and hives, both inheritable, which can be triggered by sunlight and which can affect the larynx.

The children were also more susceptible to cot death - also known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) - because their mother and father both snored heavily.

Indeed, Christine was known to be at risk from SIDS and was given an apnoea monitor, which triggered an alarm several times when her breathing stopped. Each time, she was revived by one of her parents.

However, by the time she was 12 months, she had learnt how to trigger the monitor at will, so it was taken away.

Anthony was offered a monitor but his father refused it. He suffered a breathing stoppage, was revived by Robinson and rushed to hospital.

A pathologist, who was called to give evidence for the defence, said he had never known of simultaneous cot deaths in the same house - but admitted it could happen.

Since Robinson's conviction, her case had been taken up by former Fleet Street journalist Ken Norman, the founder of the charity The Portia Trust (since renamed The Portia Campaign).

At the time, Mr Norman described Robinson's conviction as "the cruellest miscarriage of justice in Britain today", and said: "Maxine is a thrice-bereaved, caring mother, suffering the torment of the damned."

Neighbours in Ouston, however, were convinced she was anything but.

One recalled how the fingers of blame were pointed at Robinson soon after the death of Anthony and Christine.

The 60-year-old neighbour said: "Robinson never cried. She never shed a tear. She was more concerned about the two kittens in case they had got out of the house. Some mothers would have screamed or gone hysterical.

"People were saying she had killed them and then word got round about the other baby's death.

"I feel shocked by this news but in a way I am not surprised. There was something about her. Something strange I cannot put my finger on."