Doctor's murder claim shocked Clark family TV

The husband of Sally Clark, the solicitor jailed and later cleared of murdering her babies, described yesterday his astonishment when a consultant paediatrician accused him of being the killer on the basis of a TV programme.

The husband of Sally Clark, the solicitor jailed and later cleared of murdering her babies, described yesterday his astonishment when a consultant paediatrician accused him of being the killer on the basis of a TV programme.

Steven Clark told a hearing of the General Medical Council in Manchester that he thought it was a "sick joke" when Professor David Southall made the allegation. But he quickly realised he was being branded a double murderer by a senior and respected paediatrician. At the time he was looking after his third son, following the deaths of the first two, while his wife was in prison. "My son could be taken into care ... and I would never see him again," he said.

He said Professor Southall's intervention "seemed unbelievable" because he knew he had not seen any of the medical evidence in the case.

Professor Southall, 55, an expert in child protection at the North Staffordshire hospital, Stoke on Trent, is accused of serious professional misconduct and could be struck off the medical register if found guilty.

He admits accusing Mr Clark of killing his sons on the basis of a TV interview in which Mr Clark described a nosebleed suffered by his first son, Christopher, 10 days before he died in December 1996. Professor Southall told police this was evidence that Mr Clark had attempted to suffocate his son and warned them that the couple's third surviving son could be in danger. He denies misconduct.

The hearing continues.