UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News
Dame Lowell Goddard, the former head of the inquiry into child sexual abuse, has blamed “relentless” media pressure for undermining confidence in her.
In a letter to the Commons Home Affairs Committee, the New Zealand judge outlined her reasons for resigning from the role – the third person to do so.
She said campaigners had published articles aimed at forcing her out and dealing a “fatal” blow to the inquiry.
She was succeeded by one of the panel members, Prof Alexis Jay, in August.
Dame Lowell acknowledged in her written submission that there had been tensions within the inquiry team, but said concerns about her leadership qualities had never been raised with her.
She wrote that a “real and increasing strain, particularly for me but in fact for everyone, was the intensifying media criticism of the inquiry” which had begun in March and “developed into widening personal attacks on me and my competence”.
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