News

A Home Office pathologist who claimed there was “overwhelming evidence” of a double murder in the Sally Clark baby case undertook “serious and repeated departures” from expected medical standards, a disciplinary panel heard this week, writes Amy Taylor.

Dr Alan Williams is appearing before the General Medical Council’s professional conduct committee accused of serious professional misconduct over the post-mortem examinations he performed on 12-week-old Christopher Clark in 1996 and eight-week-old Harry two years later.

Sally Clark was jailed for life for smothering the boys but had her conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal after spending three years in prison.

The committee, sitting in London, has already ruled that Williams failed in his duty to consider all possible causes of death and said his post-mortem of Christopher was so impaired it could not be considered reliable.

It also previously decided that he had withheld details of some blood samples taken from Christopher and had originally given the cause of death as lower respiratory tract infection. A diagnosis which it found “did not have a proper scientific basis”.

The committee is now considering if Williams’ practice amounts to serious professional misconduct. Williams denies the charge. The hearing continues.