- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday July 5 2005 16.32 BST
Professor Sir Roy Meadow was struck off for giving mistaken evidence. Photograph: PA
A senior paediatrician whose testimony led to a mother being wrongfully jailed for the murder of her two baby sons today denied he was an expert on child abuse.
Defending himself against charges of serious professional misconduct at the General Medical Council (GMC), Sir Roy Meadow claimed that despite having edited a book entitled The ABC Of Child Abuse, he could not be considered a child protection "guru".
He also told the disciplinary hearing that he was not an expert in sudden infant death syndrome (Sids), commonly known as cot death, despite having claimed during Mrs Clark's trial that it was unlikely to have been the cause of her sons' deaths.
Professor Meadow added that he believed he had used his expertise "correctly" during the 1999 trial. But Mrs Clark was cleared by the court of appeal in 2003.
Robert Seabrook QC, cross examining Professor Meadow at the fitness to practise hearing in London, said the retired paediatrician appeared to be "disclaiming any responsibility" for wrongly claiming during the trial that there was a one in 73 million chance of a double cot death in her family.
Mr Seabrook said: "You were giving evidence in the case against a young mum accused of smothering her babies and no doubt you had the exquisite distressing nature of that situation in your mind, and with your immense distinction and experience in this relatively short statement you described Sids and took it upon yourself to say it is extremely rare for that to happen within the same family."
Professor Meadow, 72, said he was an expert on deaths initially classified as Sids, but later found to due to unnatural deaths. The doctor also said he had expertise on the probabilities of occurrence of cot deaths but denied he was a statistician.
He said: "I never saw myself as a forensic expert. I saw myself as an experienced paediatrician."
He denied Mr Seabrook's claim that he was "an accomplished and assured witness", saying: "I didn't feel that as a person."
But Mr Seabrook said Professor Meadow's assertion that he was not sure how to deal with the evidence in court was "a charade".
The hearing continues.
