Judge who quit the government's child sex abuse inquiry after just 18 months was handed a £90,000 payoff - including flights home to New Zealand

By Tim Sculthorpe
Daily Mail
October 11, 2016

https://goo.gl/1QgJPG

Dame Lowell Goddard resigned as head of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in August and has now received a severance deal worth around £90,000

The £80,000 severance, plus business class flights to New Zealand, were agreed by Home Secretary Amber Rudd, pictured at last week's Tory conference

Baroness Butler-Sloss (left) and Dame Fiona Woolf (right) both stepped down from the role as head of the child sex abuse inquiry after concerns about their links to the establishment

The New Zealand judge who quit as head of the massive public inquiry into child abuse has received a pay off worth £90,000.

Dame Lowell Goddard, who was in the post for just 18 months, had been on a total salary and benefits package worth almost £500,000.

Dame Lowell became the third chairwoman to walk out on the multi-million pound inquiry in August, throwing the beleaguered probe into a new crisis.

Her £80,000 severance, plus business class flights to New Zealand, was agreed by Home Secretary Amber Rudd and brought her total payments to almost £700,000 for 18 months in charge of an inquiry that has not yet heard any evidence.

Victims groups today revealed their frustration at the ailing inquiry, pointing out £90,000 could be better spent on counselling for abuse survivors.

Ms Rudd appointed Professor Alexis Jay to head up the inquiry, which is tasked together 13 separate investigations into one overarching review of historic child abuse in British institutions.

The inquiry was plunged into further crisis in recent weeks as its most senior barrister was suspended and others quit over fears the inquiry was too big and unmanageable.

Senior legal figures have called for it to be scrapped and refocused on identifying how to prevent abuse in the future.

Dame Lowell, who was appointed by Theresa May when she was Home Secretary, had been earning a salary of £360,000, plus £110,000 for an apartment in Kensington, another £12,000 to cover bills, and a Government car and driver.

Andrew Lavery, of the victims' group White Flowers Alba, told The Times the 'galling' news came on the day the inquiry had invited him to attend a meeting in London but refused even to discuss meeting his travel expenses.

He added: 'It's disgraceful but this inquiry has long been a shameful gravy trough.'

Ian McFadyen, a campaigner, said: 'A thousand pounds will give a survivor seven weeks of counselling and we're struggling to get those funds.

'I would have thought that someone who left without explaining why and without finishing the job would have declined any payoff.'

A Home Office spokesman said: 'The independent inquiry has a vital role to play in exposing the failure of public bodies and other major organisations to prevent child sexual abuse.

'We owe it to victims and survivors to get to the truth and the independent inquiry is continuing its vital work.'

The inquiry has been beset by delays and controversies since it was first announced by the then home secretary Mrs May.

Baroness Butler-Sloss stood down in July 2014 amid questions over the role played by her late brother, Lord Havers, who was attorney general in the 1980s.

Her replacement Dame Fiona Woolf resigned following a barrage of criticism over her 'establishment links', most notably in relation to former home secretary Leon Brittan, who died in 2015.

Mrs May officially reconstituted the probe under Justice Goddard in March 2015 and placed it on a statutory footing, meaning it has the power to compel witnesses to give evidence.

The inquiry's terms of reference say that its purpose includes considering 'the extent to which state and non-state institutions have failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation'. It covers England and Wales.