Tears of joy and yellow ribbons symbolised the relief felt in the Cheshire village of Elton yesterday when the news came through from Boston that Louise Woodward was on her way home. Within minutes of the decision to uphold the appeal against her conviction for the manslaughter of Matthew Eappen, friends and supporters of the Woodward family expressed their delight that "the long wait is over." Louise Woodward's mother, Mrs Susan Woodward, who was told of the verdict at the family home in Elton, described the decision as "absolutely fantastic".
While preparations to bring Louise Woodward back to Britain got under way in Boston, a small crowd of supporters gathered in the Rigger Pub, the headquarters of the campaign for her release. The scene of tears and disbelief during Woodward's trial, yesterday the pub was awash with smiling faces by early evening.
Ms Ann Bradshaw, a local resident, said she was glad the waiting was finally over. "I've just heard the news. I'm so glad it's all over for them. In recent weeks it's got totally out of hand because it dragged on so long. Now everyone knows where they stand and can get on with their lives."
"I'm absolutely thrilled," said Ms Jean Antrobus, from nearby Runcorn. "It's brilliant news, it's dragged on so long. I don't think the conviction should stand but at least it means she's coming home. She's only a girl herself. It doesn't alter the fact that Matthew died and I feel very sorry for his parents, but it's time that she came home and to put everything behind us."
As camera crews and photographers arrived in the village, however, the landlady of the Rigger Pub, Ms Julie Smith, appeared anxious about all the attention. "We've not forgotten that a baby was killed. We've all got children or grandchildren. I'm scared to say anything in case it might get misconstrued," she said.
The local Labour MP, Mr Andrew Miller, described the moment when Louise Woodward was told she could return to Britain. She had been asleep, he said, and her father had awakened her to tell her the news. Confirming that she would return on the next available flight to Britain, he said she would be home "within hours . . . it is going to be a very emotional return home."
Woodward's lawyer, Mr Barry Scheck, told a news conference at the Oxford Union last night he hoped she would now be able to put the "tragedy" behind her and get on with her life. He expressed relief at the court's decision.
"I hope for the sake of my client Louise that she is able to return to her home here in the UK as soon as possible and that, with the grace that people over here are known for, she is permitted to go on and live her life and put this terrible tragedy behind her.
"This has been a tragic case from the beginning for the family of Matthew Eappen, and for this young woman who was charged with a crime that the scientific evidence I believe demonstrates she did not commit," he said.
Mr Scheck, who was on a visit to England with his 11-year-old daughter Ellie when the news broke, said it would mean "everything" to Louise.
He said: "I have not spoken to her today but I speak to her at least every other night. This has been a hugely tortured period in this young woman's life.
"The waiting was unbearable, but what was unbearable was being in jail. It was very difficult. While she was waiting for the verdict, everything she did was subjected to wall-to-wall publicity and tabloid scrutiny."
He said that, personally speaking, he was relieved that the whole episode was over.
He expressed his sympathy to the Eappen family and said he felt they had been unfairly criticised for employing a nanny in the first place.
But he added that the Supreme Court had taken the right decision.
Mr Scheck said: "The decision for us when we took the appeal was whether we should take a position in front of the court that there should be a new trial.
"Should we have gone through a new trial with new evidence, this child's body would have been exhumed."
He added: "To start exhuming bodies and doing histological analysis of the skull fracture would be more pain for everyone else involved."
Just hours before yesterday's decision, however, Louise Woodward's father Gary spoke publicly about the allegations of fraud levelled at his wife by their daughter's former lawyer, Ms Elaine Whitfield Sharp. He told BBC news he could not understand why they were being made. "I can see no sane reason for these allegations. If people have any questions why not go and ask the trustees, why run to the nearest reporter or TV camera? Sue over the past 15 to 16 months has shown unstinting loyalty to Louise. She lived in the USA for seven months, she visited Louise in prison every day under the most stressful conditions without a thought for her own welfare."
When Woodward's trial began last October donations to the fund began pouring in from all over Britain and at its peak the coffers stood at £25,000. Yet in the run-up to yesterday's decision - arguably the most crucial days of this saga for Louise Woodward and her family - the Woodwards and Ms Whitfield Sharp began a transatlantic slanging match.
It began with Ms Whitfield Sharp's arrest on drink-driving charges in May, when a trooper apparently heard her speak of her doubts about Woodward's innocence. "I know she is guilty and I can't handle it," she was said to have told him and her words were beamed across the world. It was also claimed that she described Woodward as a "duplicitous monster". Ms Whitfield Sharp issued a swift denial and Woodward's supporters dismissed the whole story.
A few days later she claimed that Louise's mother had effectively defrauded the appeal fund by claiming for living expenses while she stayed for free at her home in Marblehead, Massachusetts, during her daughter's trial.
The chairman of the trustees of the Louise Woodward Appeal Fund, the Rev Ken Davey, was forced to defend the Woodwards against the allegations of fraud and that the fund itself had misspent the money donated to it. Insisting all the money could be accounted for, Mr Davey told the media that no money had been spent on clothes or cars for the family. "Our resolve has not been weakened. People in the village are still committed to Louise. We want very much to emphasise the positive and are fully behind her," he said in their defence.
The trustees must have thought that would be the end of it. But into the frame stepped Ms Jean Jones, the woman who established the appeal fund. Earlier this week Ms Jones launched a stinging attack on Mrs Woodward, describing her as "the most ungracious person I have ever met."