Meadow defends his role in conviction of Sally Clark
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《英国医生杂志》
Roy Meadow, the paediatrician who has been vilified in the media for his role in the conviction of Sally Clark for murdering her two babies, broke his silence last week, insisting that he had been a reluctant witness in criminal trials.
In his opening evidence to the General Medical Council panel that is hearing accusations of serious professional misconduct against him, Professor Meadow said that testifying in court was a "great ordeal" and "unsettling."
He is accused of giving "misleading and flawed" statistical evidence in the trial of Mrs Clark, whose convictions were overturned on a second appeal.
The retired paediatrician, a former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, denies serious professional misconduct. He admitted that he had never been given any written guidelines about giving expert evidence.
He said he did not think doctors were interested in retribution, vengeance, and punishment. "It is an uncomfortable area, and I consciously run away from it."
The complaint to the GMC was brought by Frank Lockyer, the father of Mrs Clark. Mrs Clark spent three years in jail after being convicted of killing her sons Christopher and Harry. She was released by the Court of Appeal in January 2003 after judges ruled her conviction unsafe, largely because the Home Office pathologist who performed postmortem examinations on both babies had failed to disclose results of microbiological investigations on Harry that raised the possibility of death from natural causes.
Professor Meadow said he had given evidence in about 10 criminal cases before Mrs Clark's trial.
Criminal cases, unlike those in the family courts, were a "jousting match between the advocates." Witnesses took an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but it was false to say you were telling the whole truth, he said.
In his report into the death of Harry, Professor Meadow said he thought the baby had the features of physical abuse. He said the findings of the postmortem examination showed he had spinal injuries, bruising to the mouth, and bleeding behind the eyes.
In relation to Christopher, "I made it clear that, although his initial death certificate said he died from a lower respiratory tract infection, I did not think that was the case. I thought more likely, in view of both children, that he had been smothered."
The GMC charges relate to the misleading statistic Professor Meadow quoted at Mrs Clark's trial that the chances of two cot deaths in a family like hers was "1 in 73 million." He told the hearing that he believed at the time that the latest research supported the figure.(Clare Dyer, legal correspondent)
In his opening evidence to the General Medical Council panel that is hearing accusations of serious professional misconduct against him, Professor Meadow said that testifying in court was a "great ordeal" and "unsettling."
He is accused of giving "misleading and flawed" statistical evidence in the trial of Mrs Clark, whose convictions were overturned on a second appeal.
The retired paediatrician, a former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, denies serious professional misconduct. He admitted that he had never been given any written guidelines about giving expert evidence.
He said he did not think doctors were interested in retribution, vengeance, and punishment. "It is an uncomfortable area, and I consciously run away from it."
The complaint to the GMC was brought by Frank Lockyer, the father of Mrs Clark. Mrs Clark spent three years in jail after being convicted of killing her sons Christopher and Harry. She was released by the Court of Appeal in January 2003 after judges ruled her conviction unsafe, largely because the Home Office pathologist who performed postmortem examinations on both babies had failed to disclose results of microbiological investigations on Harry that raised the possibility of death from natural causes.
Professor Meadow said he had given evidence in about 10 criminal cases before Mrs Clark's trial.
Criminal cases, unlike those in the family courts, were a "jousting match between the advocates." Witnesses took an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but it was false to say you were telling the whole truth, he said.
In his report into the death of Harry, Professor Meadow said he thought the baby had the features of physical abuse. He said the findings of the postmortem examination showed he had spinal injuries, bruising to the mouth, and bleeding behind the eyes.
In relation to Christopher, "I made it clear that, although his initial death certificate said he died from a lower respiratory tract infection, I did not think that was the case. I thought more likely, in view of both children, that he had been smothered."
The GMC charges relate to the misleading statistic Professor Meadow quoted at Mrs Clark's trial that the chances of two cot deaths in a family like hers was "1 in 73 million." He told the hearing that he believed at the time that the latest research supported the figure.(Clare Dyer, legal correspondent)