§ Lord Williams of Elvelasked Her Majesty's Government: What progress has been made in relation to the inter-departmental group established by the Attorney-General. [HL320]
§ The Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith)Following the appeal of Sally Clark and the acquittal of Trupti Patel, I established a group comprising the police, Crown Prosecution Service, Home Office and other relevant agencies to consider whether any cases in which Dr Williams has given important evidence require a more in depth review.
On the 28 July, the inter-departmental group held its first meeting. Progress was made in two areas. How previous cases in which Dr Alan Williams conducted a post mortem were to be identified and what factors would be used to select the cases on which the group should concentrate.
Following that meeting, work commenced immediately on the identification of cases. Several agencies assisted in respect of this process, with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service taking the lead. The group set a deadline of mid-September for the conclusion of that process. By that date, approximately 50 previous cases had been identified, which dated back between five and seven years. These cases all involved charges of murder, manslaughter or infanticide where Dr Williams 55WA had been instructed by the police to conduct the post mortem and which had resulted in a conviction.
The cases themselves are now being reviewed. An experienced member each of the Metropolitan Police and of the Crown Prosecution Service are conducting the review.
This work is continuing. It is anticipated that the results of the initial review will be considered early next year.
The group is also considering whether the exercise of reviewing cases should be extended to those involving Professor Meadow. I would also refer to the steps taken by the Crown Prosecution Service referred to in my Written Answer to Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 25 June 2003 (WA 22).