UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Sandra Laville and Haroon Siddique
Tuesday 18 October 2016 1
A member of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse panel has said she went to the Home Office with concerns about the then chair, Dame Lowell Goddard, in April, months before the Home Office said it was aware of the reservations surrounding her.
Goddard unexpectedly resigned as chair of the public inquiry in August, throwing it into turmoil.
Last week the Times reported alleged concerns about her conduct and professionalism, including claims that she linked Britain’s child abuse problem to its population of Asian men. She has denied the allegations.
The Home Office said people within the inquiry raised concerns about Goddard on 29 July, six days before she resigned, but that version of events was challenged at a hearing of the home affairs committee on Tuesday.
Inquiry panel member Drusilla Sharpling told the committee she did not want to indulge in discussions of character but that there were “questions about the quality of the leadership” which she raised with the Home Office in April.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.