Gosport War Memorial Hospital families ask for Hillsborough-style inquests into deaths

Lawyers acting for the bereaved say earlier inquests ‘were not fit for purpose’ and fresh hearings should have followed a major 2018 report.

It comes as detectives are examining around records of 700 patients who died at the Bury Road hospital between 1987 and 2001.

The bishop-led Gosport Independent Panel report found hundreds of patients had their lives shortened by the use of opioids without justification.

Now five families are calling for a first or fresh inquest into the deaths.

If the Hampshire coroner and the Attorney General agree to the requests, then the families’ solicitor will write to the chief coroner to ask that the inquests be held all together as an Article 2 inquest with a much wider scope than a standard inquest to look at the role of all individuals and institutions involved.

Leigh Day partner Emma Jones said: ‘The ultimate aim is to try to get something akin to the most recent Hillsborough inquests – with a judge and jury.

‘The path is similar – both tragedies have had families campaigning for decades for truth and justice on behalf of their deceased loved ones. The families have faced ineffective and closed investigations that were poor.

‘There had been earlier inquests that were not fit for purpose. Then followed an independent report into each matter. Following the Hillsborough Report, fresh inquests were ordered. We hope to get to that place for the families.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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