In an article we inadvertently republished in October 2020, headed 'Psychologist accused over reports on mothers', we reported that clinical psychologist Darren Spooner of the St Giles Clinic, Norwich, had cut and pasted sections of three expert reports which had been used in Court proceedings in which it had later been ordered that children had been removed from their parents and placed into care.

Although it was not our intention, the article may have been understood as suggesting that Mr Spooner had failed to fulfil his professional obligations in the preparation of his expert reports by routinely cutting and pasting key sections of his reports with the result that children had been wrongly removed from their parents and placed into care.

These allegations were entirely without foundation. We accept that the article should not have been published. We withdraw the allegations unreservedly and apologise to Mr Spooner for the harm and distress he has been caused as a result of their publication. As a mark of our regret we made a significant charitable donation on Mr Spooner's behalf as well as paying his legal costs.