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A paediatrician who contacted police with concerns that the husband of Sally Clark had murdered their babies has been found guilty of professional misconduct and banned from child protection work for three years, writes Sally Gillen.

Professor David Southall told police he believed Stephen Clark had killed his sons Christopher and Harry after watching a television documentary on the case of Sally Clark, who was jailed for the deaths in November 1999 but cleared in December 2003.

Another seven complaints against Southall are being dealt with by the General Medical Council and are expected to be heard in January.

The leading paediatrician made the call in April 2000 when he was suspended from his duties at North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust and prevented from undertaking any outside child protection work without the permission of the trust.

In August that year he produced a report on the family at the request of solicitors, which concluded it was extremely likely Clark has killed his children and it was unsafe for his third child to remain in his care.

But he wrote his report without speaking to the family, accessing case papers, or examining X-rays or other medical reports.

At the hearing in Manchester, tribunal chairman Denis McDevitt said: “As a potential expert witness, you had a duty to list in your report the limitations of either the method you used come to your conclusion or the result.”


He added the committee was concerned that Southall had been given the opportunity to add a caveat in his report saying he had based his opinion solely on the basis of watching a television programme.

But McDevitt said the committee had been “extremely impressed” by the vast number of and quality the quality of testimonials that have been put before them that showed Southall was held in the highest esteem by professional colleagues.