Dr David La Rooy: Those interviewing children must stick to the rules

IN the early 1990s, several cases became infamous because evidence that was provided in court was based on expert testimony from therapists. In response to that, therapists did try to diagnose abuse by looking at the indicators of abuse. The problem was that children who had not been abused also displayed some indicators - bed-wetting was an example.

So, in response to that, in the 1990s, there was an enormous amount of research done on children's memories and the best ways of accessing those.

The results of that have been distilled over the years to form guidelines for most governments around the world.

Those recommendations are at the core of the Scottish Government's own guidelines and are unlikely to ever change.

What was done in this case does not compare to best practice at all. What this therapist was doing does not have much in common with what current guidelines are when interviewing a child who is believed to have been abused.

The therapist was providing care for the child, which is very different from conducting an interview that would satisfy a legal requirement.

I have experience of police interviews conducted here and elsewhere in the world. It is always a concern that interviews are conducted to a very high standard, and follow recommended guidance. When we see examples where it is not possible to know what the quality of evidence is - which I believe in the case the sheriff highlighted in his concluding remarks - it is a problem.

It is important that when people come into court like this, they are able to tell what the quality of evidence is. In Scotland, almost all interviewers are trained on the use of best practice guidelines for joint investigative interviews.

What research shows is that they need ever greater support.

We are giving them one week's training, which provides benefits for interviewers early on, but without ongoing support and peer review feedback from managers and colleagues about the quality of their interviews, we don't know what is actually happening in the interview rooms. So we need to provide training so they continue to develop their skills.

• Dr David La Rooy, from Abertay University in Dundee, is an expert in investigative interviews of children.