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Police have identified 24 suspects in a new criminal investigation into hundreds of deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital. An independent panel previously discovered that 456 patients died after being prescribed opiates inappropriately at the UK hospital between 1987 and 2001. Kent Police are leading the investigation and have begun sharing files with the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of charges. Operation Magenta is the fourth investigation into the deaths after three from Hampshire Constabulary resulted in no prosecutions. 21 of the suspects are being investigated for gross negligence manslaughter and three for health and safety offences.
Neil Jerome, Kent Police Deputy Chief Constable, stated that the investigation was “one of the largest and most complex of its nature in the history of UK policing”. He also said that it is up to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether criminal charges can be brought. No arrests have yet been made but interviews have taken place under caution. Emma Jones, a solicitor representing some of the affected families, stated that the news was “small comfort” for those who have waited years for answers.
Police have examined more than three million pages of documents and taken about 1,200 witness statements from family members. The families have previously campaigned for judge-led “Hillsborough-style” inquests to be carried out into the deaths, allowing them to find the answers they deserve as efficiently as possible. Dr Jane Barton, who oversaw the prescribing of opiates at the hospital, was found guilty of failings in the care of 12 patients between 1996 and 1999 but was not struck off the medical register. The chairman of the original inquiry called for the police to investigate “any criminal offences associated with the administration of medication”, after stating that there was a “disregard for human life” of many patients at the hospital.
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