PROFESSOR David Southall, the doctor who saw a television documentary and then wrongly accused a father of killing his two sons, could be struck off or suspended this week after an inquiry by the General Medical Council (GMC) found him guilty of giving misleading evidence and of dressing up his opinions as fact.

He had accused Stephen Clark — whose wife Sally was wrongly convicted in 1999 of murdering their two baby boys — after watching a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary which cast doubt on the conviction.

Clark complained to the GMC after hearing of Southall’s intervention. His wife’s conviction for smothering 11- week-old Christopher and shaking to death his eight-week-old brother Harry was quashed by the Appeal Court in January last year because vital evidence had been withheld from the trial.

Last month a GMC panel ruled that Southall, 55, had been “irresponsible and misleading” and will decide his punishment on Thursday. Although it can strike him off or suspend him, it could impose the lesser punishment of a public admonishment.

The Clarks are said to be pleased that the inquiry found against Southall but feel bitter that it has taken four years.

Southall, a paediatrician at North Staffordshire hospital, continued practising while the GMC assessed the complaint. If he is not struck off he faces inquiries into seven other complaints.

Meanwhile, a second medical expert in the Clark case also faces a GMC hearing. The appeal judges said that there were “serious questions” over the competence of Dr Alan Williams, the prosecution pathologist. Sally Clark’s lawyers said that Williams misled the jury by failing to disclose the results of medical tests which suggested that Harry had died from a rare form of meningitis.

The case against Williams is expected to be heard in February.

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