A 17 month review of “secret” case files on children held by the paediatrician David Southall has found no evidence that any information was kept from the defence when prosecutions took place.

The Crown Prosecution Service’s review was set up in February 2007 by the then attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, after it emerged that Dr Southall kept 4344 “special” case files on children that were not stored on their hospital records.

The review team searched the files to try to find those in which he had appeared as a prosecution witness and ensure …