Dame Lowell Goddard: I Was Never Warned over Allegations of Racism
By Katie Stallard
Dame Lowell Goddard has told Sky News no concerns were raised with her before her resignation from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse in August, and that she was never warned, officially or otherwise, about the alleged use of racially derogatory language. The New Zealand judge is alleged to have said Britain had so many paedophiles "because it has so many Asian men", according to a report in The Times. The newspaper report included a number of allegations made by what it said were "well-placed figures" at the inquiry's headquarters about her alleged conduct, including claims she treated staff with contempt. The unnamed sources in the report also claimed she voiced shock at the size of the country's ethnic minority population and allegedly complained of having to travel 50 miles from London to see a white face. Responding to written questions submitted via her lawyers, Dame Lowell denied in the strongest possible terms ever having used such language, and said she had never held the views or opinions attributed to her in the allegations, which she categorically rejects. Dame Lowell's legal team said the first that she had heard of the allegations or any concerns about her performance as chair of the inquiry was in an email from a Times newspaper reporter last week, on 12 October. Her lawyer said: "Dame Lowell had never heard of any such allegations and had certainly never been warned either officially or otherwise about the use of racially derogatory language or of racism. "She has never used such language and nor has she held the views and opinions attributed to her in these allegations. "The language in those allegations is vocabulary which she neither would have used nor would consider using. She rejects these allegations entirely." The denial came as Prime Minister Theresa May admitted there were "stories" around about Dame Lowell's leadership of the inquiry but claimed that, as Home Secretary, she was not able to intervene on the basis of "suspicion" or "hearsay". Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs May said complaints about Dame Lowell's behaviour had been made to the Home Office in confidence months before she became the third chair to vacate the post in August. On Tuesday, Drusilla Sharpling, a member of the child abuse inquiry, told the Home Affairs Select Committee she had raised her concerns over the leadership of Dame Lowell in the spring - months before she left the post. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has insisted the Home Office was not made aware of concerns around Dame Lowell's behaviour until 29 July, six days before Theresa May became Prime Minister. Asked about the process which led to her appointment to head the child abuse probe, Dame Lowell said there had been "time pressure" and referred to the self-imposed deadline set by then Home Secretary, now Prime Minister, Theresa May, to announce a new Chair for the inquiry by 5 February, 2015. "The first contact that Dame Lowell had with the Home Office was on 22 December, 2014," her lawyer said. "Discussions continued during January 2015 when she was still very much still considering the role, which necessarily required an upheaval to her life and career in New Zealand. "Accepting the role meant that she would have to resign from her role as a judge in New Zealand. "Essentially a decision had to be made that she would accept the role in principle if asked by about 20 January, as the Home Secretary had undertaken to announce a new Chair for the Inquiry by 5 February, 2015, so there was 'time pressure'." Ben Emmerson QC, former lead counsel to the inquiry, has previously described the selection and due diligence process used in the appointment of Justice Goddard as having been carried out in "unprecedented depth and detail". Questioned by Sky News about allegedly spending three months of her first year out of the country in the ?350,000-a-year job, Dame Lowell did not deny her absence from the UK, but insisted she had been working consistently throughout.
"The Inquiry team were all fully equipped to work remotely," her lawyer said. "Dame Lowell's two periods of absence in the first year were taken at times convenient to the Inquiry and with solid arrangements in place." "While she was working in New Zealand during these absences Dame Lowell was consistently logged into the Inquiry's databases and available to and in direct communication with the Inquiry." "Any allegation that Dame Lowell was not fulfilling her role properly or on holiday whilst in New Zealand is untrue and would be highly defamatory if published." Dame Lowell is the third chair of the inquiry to resign since it was set up in 2014. When asked whether she had confidence that the inquiry could succeed in its present form, she referred to her statement on 5 September, in which she said there was "an inherent problem in the sheer scale and size of the inquiry" and called for a complete review. "Its boundless compass, including, as it does, every state and non-state institution, as well as relevant institutional contexts, coupled with the absence of any built-in time parameters, does not fit comfortably or practically within the single inquiry model," she said at the time. Sky News spoke to Dame Lowell's husband, Christopher Hodson QC, at the luxury apartment they share in Wellington, New Zealand. The upmarket residence is part of a gated community in the capital's embassy district. The couple reportedly share a love of thoroughbred horse racing and equestrian sports, and have a second home in extensive grounds in the Martinborough region, an area famous for its vineyards, to the east of Wellington. Mr Hodson told Sky News his wife was "absolutely fine" and was communicating with "the committee" in the UK, but that it would not be appropriate for her to make any public comment.
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