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Settlement reached in Mathew Eappen case

A Special Correspondent in Boston

A settlement was reached on Friday in one of the most sensational cases that riveted America, Britain and India for several months -- the wrongful death lawsuit against former British au pair Louise Woodward.

The settlement came just a week before the civil case was to go to trial.

Woodward's lawyer in England said any money generated from the publication of her story would be assigned to the United Nations Children's Fund.

Woodward is barred from profiting from her story, Frederic Ellis, an attorney for the baby Mathew's family said on Friday evening, adding that Mathew's parents, Sunil Eappen and Debra, are withdrawing their civil suit against Woodward who is back in her native England, studying for a law degree.

Woodward was convicted of manslaughter for the death of the eight-month-old Mathew who was left in her care. She spent nearly a year in jail awaiting trial. An appeals court judge who reduced the original sentence freed Woodward taking into account the year-long imprisonment. She was sued in federal court last year by the parents.

Lawyer Paul Barrow, who represents Woodward, told reporters in London: "The civil proceedings between Louise Woodward and the estate of Matthew Eappen have now been settled.

"The terms of the settlement are confidential save that the parties have both agreed that no one will personally profit from any sale of the stories in relation to this case.

"Any money therefore that may be generated in the future arising from the publication in any form by Louise of her story about this case will be assigned by Louise to the charity of her choice, namely UNICEF.

"Louise had always maintained she has had no intention to profit from her story and Louise continued to maintain her innocence and hopes that one day scientific evidence will establish this conclusively."

The Woodward family has faced a lot of criticism in recent months. The British authorities are investigating whether Louise's mother misused thousands of pounds and dollars raised by their supporters in England and America.

But this week there seemed to be some relief among those who had stood by the Woodwards.

Debbie Lalor, who employed Woodward as a babysitter for her daughter before she travelled to America to become an au pair, said she was sure the law student and her whole family would be relieved, British publications revealed.

"Hopefully that will be the end. It has been a long, terrible ordeal for everyone involved and if that is the end then that will be a good thing."

She said it "comes as no surprise" that Woodward does not intend to profit from any future media deals.

Andrew Miller, a Labour Party member of Parliament, said he had known the Woodward family for a long time and had been convinced that Louise had no plans to benefit from the tragedy.

"The most important thing is nobody should benefit from the sale of their story and Louise has always said that that was never her wish," he said.

But he hinted that the case is not really over. "It doesn't totally draw a line under the matter because Louise is still determined to prove her innocence in scientific terms, but in terms of the immediate legal battle it does bring matters to a close."

Gary Woodward was quoted as saying his daughter's ordeal would always affect the family: "It will never leave us. We can try, we've been through -- and everybody involved in this has been through -- an awful lot. It's affected everybody."

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