Child abuse inquiry dubbed ‘a legal Titanic’ after ANOTHER top lawyer resigns over leadership concerns
Barrister Aileen McColgan walks as while more lawyers say they plan to leave over similar worries
THE national child abuse inquiry was last night dubbed “a legal Titanic” after yet another senior lawyer resigned.
Barrister Aileen McColgan quit over “serious concerns” about its leadership.
Two more senior lawyers have said they plan to leave over similar worries, BBC2’s Newsnight claimed.
Meanwhile it emerged last night that the inquiry has delayed a hearing into how child sex allegations against the late Labour peer Lord Janner were handled.
A spokesman said this was to allow cops and police watchdogs to continue separate probes.
Ms McColgan, who was leading the inquiry’s investigation into churches, declined to comment on her exit.
But Lord Janner’s son Daniel, a criminal QC, said: “They are fighting like ferrets on the deck of a legal Titanic which has now hit the rocks. It is not fit for purpose.
“The strand in relation to my late father, who is innocent, is a macabre injustice.”
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The inquiry is asking if public bodies neglected their duty of care to children.
But it has been dogged by controversy and is now on its fourth chairman, Alexis Jay.
She replaced New Zealander Dame Lowell Goddard, who quit in August amid accusations of using racist language, which she denies.
The next month, the inquiry’s senior counsel Ben Emmerson was suspended over concerns about his leadership and resigned 24 hours later. His junior Elizabeth Prochaska also left.
Lawyers say the inquiry, which has so far cost £15million and is estimated to run for another eight years, is too broad and impossible to manage.
Labour MPs said the loss of so many lawyers “should sound alarm bells”.