GIST: "A leading medical expert who has defended parents accused of killing their children in ‘shaken baby’ cases has been accused of being dishonest and misleading the courts. Dr Waney Squier – a renowned authority on infant brains who has given evidence in dozens of cases where parents have been accused of killing their children - appeared before a fitness to practise panel yesterday charged with ‘bringing the profession into disrepute’. Dr Waney Squier – a renowned authority on infant brains who has given evidence in dozens of cases where parents have been accused of killing their children  She is accused of giving evidence beyond her expertise and of failing to be objective and unbiased in her role as an expert witness in six court cases between 2007 and 2010. The charges could see her struck off if a full tribunal hearing, due to be held in March, finds against her.........Dr Squier said she denies all the charges and has promised to ‘put up a very robust defence’.........The fitness to practise hearing focuses on six civil and criminal cases in which Dr Squier gave expert testimony. ‘This whole case revolves around expert evidence given in cases of alleged baby shaking,’ said Tom Kark, QC, for the General Medical Council. There will be two weeks of legal argument before a full public hearing next year. Details of the charges could be changed before the case is heard in March. Sir Robert Francis, QC, defending Dr Squier, told the panel yesterday: ‘This is a case of considerable substance, great public importance and considerable complexity.’........ Dr Squier has previously spoken about the continuing battle with the authorities for her opinion to be accepted. Her view that bleeding in the brain can occur naturally in young babies is shared by a minority of pathologists. In 2011 she said: ‘If I am blocked from giving evidence in court, defendants already having to cope with the tragic death of a baby will not get the benefit of the new science. Equally, if the courts fail to accept that the mainstream view of 30 years ago can no longer be relied upon, there will be serious miscarriages of justice.’"
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