A leading paediatrician, Professor David Southall, was last week barred by the General Medical Council from undertaking child protection work for three years. The GMC found him guilty of professional misconduct after he accused a father of murdering his children without having collected any evidence.

Professor Southall had accused Stephen Clark of murdering his two sons in April 2000, on the basis of an interview with Mr Clark that he watched on the Channel 4 documentary Dispatches. In the interview …