David Southall qualified as a doctor in 1971 and initially practised as a GP in Weymouth, Dorset.

He became a full-time research fellow at the Royal Brompton hospital, south-west London, where his work involved sleep monitoring programmes to identify infants who were at risk of cot death. Professor Southall pioneered the covert video surveillance of parents suspected of abuse to identify whether some cases of sudden infant death were due to smothering.

Currently a consultant paediatrician at North Staffordshire district hospital, he is a proponent of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, where parents are said to harm their children to gain medical attention.

Campaigning parents who claim they have been wrongly accused of abuse allege that he is a child protection zealot. Seven sets of parents will have their cases against him heard in January at a further GMC disciplinary hearing.

Prof Southall was suspended for nearly two years while his research into respiratory conditions in babies was reviewed. He was cleared of any wrongdoing and reinstated to his post in October 2001. His international work earned him an OBE in 1999.