Another senior staff member at the university, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Cynthia and James Tooley were the principal individuals interviewed as part of the inquiry, meaning it was “essentially one person’s word against another”.
The Guardian understands that there are also unresolved questions about the extent to which O’Brien’s investigation into Tooley’s relationship with the woman in India amounted to a full exoneration of the vice-chancellor.
However, the Guardian can reveal that, during his investigation, O’Brien did not have access to the diaries or WhatsApp messages, which are understood to have run over hundreds of pages and shed light on the nature of his relationship with the woman.
The university commissioned Joseph O’Brien KC to investigate James Tooley over allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with the woman.
His inquiry was triggered after the vice-chancellor’s wife, Cynthia Tooley, discovered the woman’s diaries and intimate WhatsApp messages between the pair, which she alleged raised questions about her husband’s conduct.
