Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) clears Professor David Southall of false allegations made by parents
PACA has released the following Press Release in response to information on the Channel 4 Cutting Edge programme website that stated they were going to perpetuate a story that is now finished with.
PACA Press Release, 12 May 2011 – The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has ruled that there is no case against Professor David Southall for allegedly causing harm to a 5-year old boy, over twenty years ago—allegations which PACA has learned from the Channel 4 website will be included in their TV programme, Cutting Edge, aired this evening.
Since 2003, the South Wales police have been investigating allegations made by Mr and Mrs Hollisey-McLean over child protection proceedings in which their son was taken into care following Professor Southall and many other professional’s concerns that his parents were abusing him. The parents alleged that their son was brain damaged during his time in care as a result of “unethical” experiments carried out in the University Hospital of Wales in 1991 as part of the child protection investigation. Professor Southall was actually an external expert involved in organising non-invasive overnight recordings of their son’s breathing for four weeks and was one of a team of more than 20 professionals involved in his care.
The police interviewed Professor Southall over the parents’ allegations in 2009 and in 2010, referred the matter to the CPS.
On 24th March 2011, Professor Southall was advised by the South Wales Police that the Crown Prosecution Service had: “completed their detailed review of all the documentation submitted to the police” and “have concluded that there should be no criminal prosecution against you”.
In addition, and in 2005, the GMC rejected complaints against Professor Southall over these same allegations following an analysis by the Hollisey-McLean’s own medical expert working under GMC proceedings who did not back up their allegations.
The Filmmaker and Channel 4 knew about the CPS rulings and GMC findings.
John Bridson, Director of PACA says: “The recent ruling by the CPS, and analysis by the family’s own medical expert under GMC proceedings six years ago, shows that there is absolutely no evidence to uphold the allegations made by the Hollisey-McLeans against Professor Southall, which according to the programme’s information on Channel 4 website are repeated in the Cutting Edge Programme today”.
The allegations made by Mr and Mrs Hollisey McLean with support from a renowned group campaigning against Professor Southall’s child protection work have incited mass biased media coverage over the past ten years—three television programmes; two radio programmes and multiple articles in tabloid and broadsheet newspapers denigrating Professor Southall and his work and supporting these parent’s specific allegations.
The earlier negative media coverage and today’s programme were timed to cause maximum damage to Professor Southall by coinciding with Professor Southall’s appearances at General Medical Council (GMC) fitness to practice hearings.
This is also the second time that Professor Southall’s work has been investigated by the police following complaints made by the same organised campaigners against his work. The previous investigation involved allegations that Professor Southall had forged parental consent in a research trial involving a safe, non-invasive ventilator. This investigation closed in October 2002 when the police stated: “there is no evidence which could conceivably satisfy the CPS’s tests of 1) sufficiency of evidence and 2) Being in the public interest to prosecute”.
John Bridson of PACA concludes: “The only proof is that by giving air time to repeated lies, the film maker and Channel 4 have contributed to damaging crucial child protection work, which ultimately harms children.”
