Dame Lowell Goddard has refused to appear again before the home affairs select committe PA:Press Association ArchiveThe former head of the public inquiry into child abuse has refused to appear before a Commons select committee in a move described as “astonishing” bythe chairwoman of the committee. Dame Lowell Goddard, who resigned from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in August and has been accused of serious misconduct during her 18 months in charge, told the home affairs committee she would not give oral evidence in person or via videolink. The New Zealand judge said she had been subjected to “malicious defamatory attacks” in the British media and did not want to appear before a hearing where some of those “false allegations” could be repeated under parliamentary privilege. Dame Lowell said she was “disappointed that there has been no government defence…

Source: The Times November 08, 2016 17:03 UTC