Westminster child abuse inquiry could last for FOUR years, New Zealand judge warns

Lowell Goddard, a High Court judge in New Zealand

The inquiry into Establishment child abuse could take up to four years to complete, its new chairman has revealed.

Lowell Goddard, a High Court judge in New Zealand, said leading the probe was the 'biggest challenge' she has ever faced as she set out plans to start in April.

The inquiry has already lost two potential heads, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Dame Fiona Woolf, who stood aside amid concerns over their establishment links.

Home Secretary Theresa May was forced to scour the globe to find a chairman for the inquiry, after fears leading figures in the UK would be seen as too close to the Establishment.

Giving evidence to MPs, Judge Goddard, the third chair-designate of the Statutory Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, told the Home Affairs Select Committee she was reluctant to set a timescale for the inquiry as this stage.

But she said it had been indicated when she took the job that it could take 'three years, possibly into a fourth'.

She added: 'Given the breadth of the subject matter and the timespan involved, that does not seem inordinate.  (more...)

Westminster child abuse inquiry could last for FOUR years, New Zealand judge warns

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