- "20 per cent had been produced by people who were not qualified at all"
- "A further fifth had been carried out by people who were writing reports in areas entirely beyond their knowledge and qualifications."
- "as many as 90 per cent of the reports had been produced by ‘expert’ witnesses who were no longer in current practice at all, but were simply working as ‘professional expert witnesses’. Often, these professional experts – who rake in thousands of pounds in fees from the chaotic family courts system – have not practised for years, leaving them out of touch with developments in their field."
- "In the past, parents have bitterly complained that they have not even been allowed to know the names of the paid expert witnesses who testified against them. That has now changed but Professor Ireland, of the University of Central Lancashire, said 65 of the 100 reports she examined were ‘poorly’ or ‘very poorly’ carried out."
- "One was even found to have ‘completed an assessment on the mother without actually seeing her’. ... One mother involved in family court proceedings told how a psychiatrist who had never seen her wrote a 14-page report on her and her family. The day after the psychiatrist signed off his report he was suspended by the General Medical Council for a separate offence. Despite this, his report was still used by the courts."
(Excerpts from here. HT: F&F)