Abuse inquiry chief on brink as lawyers who quit reveal all: Barristers set to lift the lid on toxic atmosphere including claims of bullying and harassment by top QC which were allegedly ignored by the chair

By Martin Beckford
Daily Mail
November 20, 2016

https://goo.gl/Ad5eCh

Professor Alexis Jay is set to be hit by damaging claims by barristers who have left the £100 million investigation

Senior counsel Ben Emmerson QC had been suspended, placed under investigation, then allowed to leave the next day

Left: Toby Fisher. Right: Aileen McColgan

Left: Hugh Davies QC. Right: Elizabeth Prochaska

The chairman of the troubled public inquiry into child abuse will come under increasing pressure this week as a string of lawyers finally reveal why they quit.

Professor Alexis Jay is set to be hit by damaging claims by barristers who have left the £100 million investigation that she knew there was a culture of bullying, harassment and even sexual assault but failed to act – then tried to cover it up.

None of the seven counsel who have left has publicly explained the full reasons for their departure.

And bosses of the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) sparked anger when they refused to tell MPs what had happened or why senior counsel Ben Emmerson QC had been suspended, placed under investigation, then allowed to leave the next day.

But now four of the lawyers have written to the Home Affairs Select Committee, which is looking into the chaos at the historical abuse probe, to give their version of events.

Their letters are due to be published on Tuesday after a private meeting of MPs on the powerful committee. It will pile pressure on Prof Jay – who took over in the summer after third chairman Dame Lowell Goddard quit – and Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who has insisted she still has confidence in the process.

Sources say the letters – from Hugh Davies QC, Elizabeth Prochaska, Toby Fisher and Aileen McColgan – will lift the lid on the toxic atmosphere at the inquiry's headquarters in Millbank, Central London, for the past year.

They are set to detail how Mr Emmerson was accused of bullying and harassment. And they repeat allegations made under Parliamentary privilege – which his lawyers have denied as 'categorically untrue' – that he sexually assaulted a woman in the inquiry offices. Mr Emmerson is being investigated by his employer, Matrix Chambers.

The senior lawyers will also say that Prof Jay and the inquiry team knew about the claims against Mr Emmerson but failed to look into them, and wrongly allowed him to resign with a glowing tribute in September – the day after suspending him because of 'serious concerns' about his leadership.

It is likely to emerge that there were 'long-standing concerns' about Mr Emmerson but that Prof Jay and the inquiry failed to take them seriously, with the result that some lawyers felt forced out or else resigned 'in protest'.

Sources have also told The Mail on Sunday that the inquiry misled MPs and the public by insisting that Mr Emmerson had been preparing a handover since September, earning £1,700 a day, when in reality he has not done any more work on the probe and was told never to return to the office.

It can also be revealed that two more lawyers are in the process of quitting and that some of those who had applied to replace Mr Emmerson have withdrawn their applications. A source said: 'Many people are considering their positions.'

Last night Labour MP Lisa Nandy said: 'Alexis Jay has got to provide a full account of what has happened. If she can't do that then she can't continue to lead the inquiry.'

The inquiry was already in crisis after it has lost three chairmen in its first two years. It has still not held a single evidence session or revealed where it will hold public hearings.

Yesterday Prof Jay told a newspaper that she had 'fought for this inquiry' and added: 'I don't intend to stop fighting for it now.'

Last night a spokesman for the inquiry said 'it would not be appropriate' to comment on the lawyers' letters.