Former Ontario chief coroner James Young apologized yesterday for his role in the Charles Smith pathology scandal, saying that he was so intent on creating a "world class" coroner system that he didn't notice parents being wrongly charged with the murder of their children.

"It distresses me tremendously that, during my watch and my time, these things happened," Dr. Young told the Goudge commission.

"I really do apologize for the miscarriages of justice ... and I recognize that there may have been people wrongly convicted, people wrongly detained, and people whose children were taken temporarily or permanently."

"We tried to build a system that was world class - and we succeeded in many ways," he said. "But we failed in some respects, and we still have work to do."

"We found his attitude disturbing," Dr. Young said. "Charles gave an explanation of things that had happened that was very, very defensive. He had a reason for everything - and it was always about someone else not doing something, or letting him down.

"I think we all came out of it feeling that his insight into these events was literally non-existent," Dr. Young said. "We also realized that he was under enormous emotional pressure."

Dr. Young has spent three days under steady attack for failing to pay attention to a string of miscarriages of justice caused by Dr. Smith that commenced in 1991 and continued for more than a decade.

Phil Campbell, a lawyer for eight individuals who say they have been wrongly convicted, implied yesterday that Dr. Young was either asleep at the switch or that Dr. Young has concealed how much he actually knew at the time.

"I can't investigate what I didn't know," Dr. Young replied.

He described himself as a man whose strong suit was "vision," but said that he merely scanned most paperwork rather than reading it, and left details to those beneath him.

Dr. Young also said that he ignored media exposés about the Smith affair, either because he didn't respect the source - such as the CBC's fifth estate - or because he didn't receive any calls of concern afterward from lawyers, other media outlets or the public.

"My experiences with the fifth estate have not been great," he told Mr. Justice Stephen Goudge.

"It doesn't represent the best in journalism. When you finish up a program by saying, 'Thanks for watching the show,' that is not journalism. That's entertainment."

Dr. Young offered the inquiry the most detailed portrait it has heard of Dr. Smith.

"He was agreeable and bright," he said. "He came across as someone who was confident and competent, without being boastful. He didn't put on airs.

"He was viewed as being very ethical and principled, and people were aware that he had strong faith - but he didn't wear it on his sleeve."

Judge Goudge is attempting to make sense of how Dr. Smith duped his colleagues and rose to the highest ranks of forensic pathology, despite leaving a trail of mistaken autopsy conclusions and broken lives.

Dr. Young warned Judge Goudge yesterday that if he issues conclusions and recommendations that are unduly critical or unrealistic, current and prospective pathologists will become "skittish" or unwilling to practise forensic pathology.

"Blaming just one person isn't going to work," he added. "That is going to build resistance in people and people are going to do things on a defensive basis."