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Police identify 24 suspects over deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital

24 suspects have been identified by police investigating the deaths of hundreds of patients at Gosport War Memorial Hospital as case files have started to be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Posted on 10 October 2024

An independent police investigation was launched into the community hospital in Hampshire after a probe found that hundreds of patients had their lives shortened through the use of opioids. 

In 2018 the Gosport Independent Panel report concluded that the lives of more than 450 people had been shortened because of the routine practice of prescribing and administering opioids until the year 2000, and that probably at least another 200 patients were similarly affected.

The Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, which is managing the investigation, codenamed Operation Magenta, has said it is reviewing the records of more than 750 patients and taken 1,200 witness statements.

The police have confirmed that the number of suspects being interviewed has risen to 24, made up of 21 for alleged gross negligence manslaughter and three for alleged offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Last year the High Court confirmed that three fresh inquests will take place into the deaths of Arthur Denis Brian Cunningham, Gladys Mabel Richards and Robert Wilson who all died at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in Hampshire in 1998.

The three families, who are represented by Leigh Day partner Emma Jones, applied to the Attorney General in 2020 for a fiat which gives permission for them to make an application to the High Court for new inquests to be held and previous inquests to be quashed. The court agreed that it was necessary and desirable in the interests of justice that there be fresh inquests.

Emma is also representing the families of six other people who died at Gosport Hospital, who have been successful in securing inquests into their deaths. These deaths had never been examined by a coroner previously. The inquests were opened by Coroner Christopher Wilkinson and immediately adjourned pending the outcome of Operation Magenta, the Kent and Essex police investigation that opened in 2019.

Leigh Day partner Emma Jones said:  

“Our clients have shown immense patience and fortitude while Operation Magenta has been ongoing. They have already waited many years for answers into the deaths of their loved ones and progress in this investigation does not appear to have been fast. However, news that files have begun to be sent to the CPS may be some small comfort.

“The fact that after all these years the police have been able to find sufficient evidence to pass cases to the CPS for charging consideration makes one wonder how poor the initial investigations were and, if they had been completed thoroughly, whether lives might have been saved.  

“We urge Kent Police to complete their investigations without further delay so that inquests into unexplained deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital can be re-opened as soon as possible. 

“Once more we repeat the call for a Hillsborough style inquest into those deaths, so that families can find the answers they deserve as efficiently as possible.”  

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Emma Jones

Emma Jones

Emma runs the team working on the contaminated blood inquiry 

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High Court London
Gosport war memorial hospital Human rights

High Court confirms three fresh inquests in Gosport War Memorial Hospital case

The High Court has today confirmed that three fresh inquests will take place into the deaths of Arthur Denis Brian Cunningham, Gladys Mabel Richards and Robert Wilson who all died at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in Hampshire in 1998.

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