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Last updateWed, 19 Mar 2025 3pm

Legal News

Judge criticises expert witness for misrepresenting research findings

A UK judge has strongly criticised an expert witness in a personal injury case, accusing him of misusing the works of others, misrepresenting his critics, and abandoning any claim to objectivity.

 Judge John Griffith Williams, recorder of Cardiff, sitting as a High Court judge, said that Peter Behan, emeritus professor of neurology at Glasgow University, "demonstrated a capacity to use his interpretation of the evidence to suit his purposes which conflicts with his duty to the court as an expert witness."

Professor Behan was representing Christine Perry, a former post office worker who alleged that she developed multiple sclerosis as a result of falling over a mailbag at work.

Ms Perry’s case is the latest in a run of cases brought by claimants who blame trauma for triggering multiple sclerosis