MEETINGS HELD YEAR ENDED 2010

20th January 2010, at the 350th Ordinary Meeting of the Society we were addressed by Christopher Sallon QC who gave a detailed and eye opening resume of the evidence in the murder trial and subsequent appeals of Sean Jenkins in “A Question of Justice”.

On Wednesday 17th February, our speaker was Mr Ian Mitchell, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, who delivered his talk, “19 Ways to Die on a Golf Course”.  The speaker treated us to a light hearted canter through the causes of death and injury on the golf course ranging from the somewhat predictable heart attack and stroke to the positively ridiculous bear attacks and snakebites.

Our speaker on the 20th October 2010 was Mr Anthony Hayden QC who gave us his thoughts on the flaws in the present system for children giving evidence and his suggestions for an alternative system in his talk entitled ““Matilda Goes to Court”.  Cross examining the child complainant”

On the 17th November 2010 in a joint meeting held with the Manchester Medical Society, Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists presented a very thorough view of the impact of negligence litigation in obstetrics and his recommendations for ideal standards of care in his lecture, “Medical negligence – lessons learned”.

The final Ordinary Meeting of the year, the 354th was held on the 8th December 2010.  On that occasion, Mrs Diana Kloss MBE delivered a detailed and fascinating talk entitled:- “The Protection of the Right to Privacy;  the Courts, the GMC and the European Convention on Human Rights”

MEETINGS HELD YEAR ENDED 2009

14th January 2009 At the 348th ordinary meeting of the Society we were addressed by Dr Ash Pawade on the value of surgical audit and the lessons learnt from the Bristol Scandal in 2005.

18th February 2009 The Society held its first debate with Mr Michael Smith, Barrister on behalf of the Law and Mr Peter Walsh, Chief Executive of Action Against Medical Accidents for Medicine debating the motion “This House Believes that the Compensation Culture is Bad for Medicine and Bad for the Law”.  The debate, facilitated by Kathy Doyle provoked a series of lively questions and observations.  After a vote the motion was carried.

Wednesday 21st October 2009 Professor Andrew Louden, Professor of Biology at Manchester University gave us a fascinating insight into our internal biological clockwork in a beautifully illustrated talk. 

Wednesday 18th November 2009 - Joint meeting with Manchester Medical Society Dr Christopher Bass, Liaison Psychiatrist at the John Radcliffe Hospital presented us with his thoughts on “Illness Deception and Malingering in Patients and its Impact in Litigation Claims”

Wednesday 9th December 2009 His Honour Judge David Fletcher delivered a most entertaining and interesting talk on his work at the Community Justice Centre in Liverpool.

MEETINGS HELD YEAR ENDED 2008

16th Jan 2008, we were address by Mr John Dark who delivered a light-hearted but detailed talk on the progress of cardiac surgery over the past 60 years.

On 13th Feb 2008 Mr Brian Hancock provided a thought provoking and poignant account of his involvement with fistula patients in Uganda and the African continent.

22nd Oct 2008, Ms Ann Owers, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, gave us an insight into the problems faced by prisoners and her thoughts on tackling those problems in her address entitled “The Health of our prisons”   

On 19th Nov 2008, Dr Adrian Grounds, senior lecturer in forensic psychiatry & consultant forensic psychiatrist presented us with his conclusions following a study of the psychological effects on individuals released from prison in cases of miscarriage of justice.

10th Dec 2008, Mr Peter Atherton, barrister at law and a member of the Society, delivered a fascinating talk entitled “From Autonomy to Accountability – Developments post Shipman”

 MEETINGS HELD YEAR ENDED 2007

17th January 2007, we were addressed by his Honour Judge Bellamy who delivered his paper: “ Human sexuality and family justice”. Taking us through a review of the remarkable changes to the Law relating to homosexuality and the rights of same sex couples over the last 40 years, the speaker concluded that we now have an increasingly enlightened judiciary.

On 21st February 2007, Mr Iain Goldrein QC provided an elegant and thought provoking consideration of the ownership and use of DNA in his talk entitled "Who owns Levi's genes?"

Our speaker on 17th October 2007 was Fiona Woolf, the immediate past president of the Law Society who gave an amusing and anecdotal retrospective of her presidential year as only the second female president in the history of the Law Society in her address entitled “The Presidential Agenda; from regulation to presentation”.

On 14th November 2007, Mr Christopher Melton QC, senior counsel to the Shipman enquiry presented us with an insight into the failings of the system for prescriptions and completion of registration of deaths which came to light following the prosecution of Harold Shipman and which paved the way for an entirely new system of registration.

On 12th December 2007, H H Judge Margaret DeHaas QC delivered a fascinating talk entitled: - “” Now you see it, now you don’t”. Openness in the family Courts”. The speaker posed the question whether the Family Courts should be open to the press and/or to the public and whether there should be greater publication of information relating to proceedings within the Family Courts.

MEETINGS HELD YEAR ENDED 2006

18th January 2006, Professor George Kinghorn, Professor of Genito-Urinary Medicine, provided some alarming statistics as to the re-emergence and prevalence of different types of STI’s and shared his views on the requirement for efficient screening and the need to treat communicable diseases as a healthcare priority.

15th February 2006, Mr Howard McCann, retired Coroner from Preston," My role as Coroner in the Morecombe Bay Tragedy”, the inquiry that followed the drowning of an estimated 23 immigrant, Chinese cockle pickers in February 2004 the speaker explained the hurdles encountered in identifying the bodies and in obtaining reliable witness evidence leading to the ultimate prosecution of the gang masters.

18th October 2006, Dr Margaret Oates,“The importance of being Earnest, abandonment and neonaticide” a fascinating insight into the phenomenon of concealed pregnancy and its ultimate outcome.

11th November 2006, Mr Geoffrey Tattersall QC, “French kisses, downspouts and exhumations; the varied life of an Ecclesiastical Judge” an insight into his work as the Chancellor of the Diocese of Manchester and Carlisle and as the Deputy Vicar General of the Diocese of Sodor Man in his talk, entitled:-

13th December 2006, Professor John Lowry “The Management of Facial Trauma”, the development of treatment for facial injuries from the evidence provided in the hieroglyphs through the hippocratic era and through to the treatment of soldiers in the first and second world wars. Modern day treatment has evolved from these earlier techniques.

MEETINGS HELD YEAR ENDED 2005

19th January 2005 – Dr Joanna Holloway, Psychiatrist, gave an absorbing talk on 'Domestic violence from the perspective of the victim and the abuser'.

26th February 2005 –Professor Rosalie David, keeper of Egyptology at the Manchester Museum – ‘Ancient Egyptian Mummies - A source for study of disease and lifestyle’. Professor David led us though the developments in forensic testing on the ancient Egyptian mummies, the results of those tests and the use of extracted information in treating disease in modern society.

19th October 2005 - The Honourable Mr Justice Ryder - ‘Experts - Ethical collaboration and the Courts’. The speaker told of his model for interdisciplinary approach to the use of experts within the court process and the place for dispute resolution.

16th November 2005 - Dr Michael Goodwin - 'Medical politics and the delivery of healthcare'. The speaker gave an insight into how doctors might have a positive influence on health outcomes through their own participation in medical politics.

14th December 2005 - Mr Andrew Edis QC - 'Watery graves: The bride in the bath; the lady in the lake and death on the Nile'. In this somewhat lighthearted talk Mr Edis, speaking from personal professional involvement, provided a study of three successfully prosecuted murder trials in which three perfectly ordinary women had been "done to death" by men of the professional classes, a chemist, a teacher and a builder.

MEETINGS HELD YEAR ENDED 2004

14th January 2004 - Ms Anne Rushton, Senior Educational Psychologist - 'What children learn from the experiences of domestic violence'. This fascinating analysis was amply illustrated with a series of case studies.

18th February 2004 - Lord Carlisle QC - delivered his paper 'Royalty, Loyalty, Fealty and a bad Tuesday', leading members through the events leading up to and including the trial of the royal butler, Paul Burrell and the relevance of public interest immunity.

13th October 2004 - Mr John Pollard, Coroner for South Manchester, treated members to a glimpse of a day in the life of a Coroner and how the police investigation and subsequent conviction of Dr Harold Shipman had led to a thorough review of the coronial system in his address 'Post-Shipman Stress Disorder'.

24th November 2004 - Dr Ray Goodman, specialist in psycho-sexual medicine, delivered an extremely learned and detailed analyisis of two problems which occur in many sexual relationships in his talk entitled 'Two common sexual dysfunctions: vaginismus and premature ejaculation".

15rh December 2004 - Mr Andrew Keogh, solicitor in the field of criminal litigation, delivered a thought-provoking and insightful talk entitled 'Prostitution: Bridging the Justice Gap'. With the sex industry in the UK worth in excess of £770m per annum involving in excess of 80,000 men and women, the speaker suggested that the subject is the cutting edge of the interface of medicine and law.

MEETINGS HELD YEAR ENDED 2003
 
 15th January 2003 - His Honour Judge David Harris QC treated members to a detailed analyis of the 19th Century criminal case of shipwrecked mariners giving rise to principles of law which have resonated in the 21st Century in his address 'Termination of Life in the Family Court'.

19th February 2003 - Dr Raine Roberts and her colleague Ms Bernie Ryan from the St Mary's Centre in Manchester delivered their paper 'Sexual Offences: Is there any justice?' This talk considered the issue from the point of the victim of sexual abuse and highlighted the work of the St Mary's Centre.

22nd October 2003 - Mr Raymond Carroll treated members to an entertaining paper, drawing widely on his own experience on the 'Conflicts concerning expert evidence and the Woolf reforms'.

19th November 2003 - Dr Ian Telfer, Consultant Psychiatrist in Substance Misuse, delivered an amusing and thought provoking lecture, dealing with the extent and effects of the misuse of illicit substances in his talk entitled 'Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls'.

10th December 2003 - Professor Robert Forrest, Professor of Forensic Toxicology at University of Sheffield, delivered a detailed and insightful talk entitled 'The interpretation of post-mortem toxicological analysis - the more we learn, the harder it gets.' The speaker told members that Murphy's Law is written on the heart of all toxicologists and that what can go wrong, will go wrong. Getting it wrong can be very expensive, not least in the terms of the subsequent loss of lives as evidenced in the case of Dr Harold Shipman.