Baby expert faces panel.

Byline: By Jane Kirby

The paediatrician whose evidence helped to convict Sally Clark of murdering her two babies, was today facing the General Medical Council.

Prof Sir Roy Meadow is charged with serious professional misconduct over evidence he gave at Mrs Clark's trial in 1999.

She was found guilty murdering her sons, Christopher and Harry, but was freed by the Court of Appeal in 2003.

Prof Meadow, 72, told the jury at Chester Crown Court that the chance of two babies dying of cot death within an affluent family was one in 73 million.

His claim was disputed by the Royal Statistical Society, which told the Lord Chancellor there was no statistical basis for the figure.

And Court of Appeal judges said the claim was tantamount to saying that without consideration of the rest of the evidence one could be just about sure that this was a case of murder.

The judges, who released Mrs Clark, said the figure "grossly overstates the chance of two sudden deaths within the same family from unexplained but natural causes".

Today, the GMC, sitting in London, was hearing allegations that Prof Meadow's expert evidence was both erroneous and misleading. If the panel finds him guilty they could strike him off the medical register.

Other possible sanctions include reprimanding him, imposing conditions on his registration or suspending him.

The retired doctor is a former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

He also gave evidence in the trials of Donna Anthony in 1998; Angela Cannings in 2002 and Trupti Patel in 2003, all accused of killing their children.

Mrs Cannings and Mrs Anthony were convicted but released by the Court of Appeal and Mrs Patel was cleared at her trial.

Prof Sir Alan Craft, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: "The GMC will investigate the facts and make its ruling on whether or not Prof Sir Roy Meadow's use of statistics during the Sally Clark trial amounted to serious professional misconduct and, if so, what action should be taken.

"But it is important to remember that the allegations against him are only about his use of certain statistics in the trial of Sally Clark.

"Whatever the outcome, I hope that this hearing does not overshadow all the work he has completed over his long and distinguished career, including on Fabricated or Induced Illness, which was formerly known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

"His work has undoubtedly saved the lives of many children."

Sir Alan went on from Rutherford Grammar School in Newcastle to become one of the country's leading specialists on childhood medicine. The child healthcare specialist is based at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Mrs Anthony said she had never met Prof Meadow but would love him to apologise for his mistake.

"What I would like for him to say is that maybe in my case and in others he got it wrong," she said.

The impact of the trial, conviction and imprisonment had ruined her life, she added.