Blake Lapthorn acts for families in Gosport War Memorial Hospital inquest

On Monday 20 April 2009, the jury in this case returned their verdicts after the month long Gosport War Memorial Hospital (GWMH) inquest hearings. Blake Lapthorn represents five of the families, in respect of the deceased: Mrs Elsie Devine, Mr Geoffrey Packman, Mr Robert Wilson, Mr Arthur Cunningham and Mrs Sheila Gregory.

The jury decided that deaths were contributed to in the first three of these cases by inappropriate drug prescribing at GWMH with morphine and other sedatives.

John White, the solicitor from Blake Lapthorn who represents the families, said: "The families are very grateful to the jury for listening carefully to the arguments, amidst what was a mass of information put to them under the severe restrictions of the inquest process. Many questions, however, remain to be answered.

"We know that the police investigated 92 deaths but only ten cases were considered at the inquest. We do not know how the ten were selected. Of the ten in the inquest, only five of the families had legal representation, being represented by Blake Lapthorn. This means that only five of the cases were fully argued before the Coroner's Court.

"Professor Baker carried out an audit into the deaths at GWMH but at the outset of the inquests the coroner decided that it would not be released. The coroner said that he did not want the jury to look at the issues retrospectively and he said he would release Professor Baker's report after the inquest. It is now time that report was made public and I call on the coroner to release it so that we can really understand the full pattern of events at GWMH.

"At this time, we simply do not know how many other deaths were caused by inappropriate prescribing. I therefore call on all families whose relatives were treated by Dr Barton in the period 1996 – 2000 to come forward and to register their details with us so that we can piece together the picture and work out the full extent of what really went on at GWMH."

Notes to editors

If relatives feel that their loved ones may have died at GWMH in suspicious circumstances, please contact Blake Lapthorn on 023 8090 8090 and ask to speak with John White or Gemma Bailey.