Will Powell

Last month's issue of Private Eye describes how we were treated by Coroner Shirley Radcliffe. Gross failure to conduct a proper inquiry with an open mind. Intent on creating an implausible narrative that even the Hospital (that failed Hayden) won't stand by.

Read the article 👇🏻 Families challenge watchdog review of Gosport hospital deaths (The Times, 16 March 2026) A judicial review claim is expected to begin on Monday over alleged failings in an investigation into the deaths of more than 450 patients at an NHS hospital nearly 30 years ago. Eight family members are to challenge the police watchdog’s review of an investigation by Hampshire and Isle of Wight constabulary into the deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital between 1989 and 2000. In 2018 an independent panel chaired by James Jones, a retired Anglican bishop of Liverpool, concluded that hundreds of lives had been shortened because of a routine practice at the hospital of prescribing and administering opioids. Six years later, senior officers at Hampshire constabulary dismissed the 72 complaints raised by family members over its investigation, which resulted in no criminal charges. In November eight of the families began a judicial review application over the process at the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which had reviewed an internal investigation. Monday is the deadline for the watchdog to state whether it will defend the claim, which is being led by David Wilson. He and people from the other families have also served legal proceedings as interested parties on Hampshire constabulary as well as the police force in Kent, which conducted a separate inquiry into the handling of the initial investigation. Two other interested parties in the potential judicial review are the chief coroner and the secretary for work and pensions, whose department is responsible for the Health and Safety Executive. Speaking to The Times, Wilson, 79, said that so far “no independent investigation of the police or other state bodies has ever taken place” into the handling and findings of the original investigations. As a result, Wilson, the nephew of a deceased patient, said any potential for criminal prosecutions was “now legally fragile because key lines of inquiry were excluded, and every death remains without the lawful investigation the families were entitled to”. He argued that the failings were a breach of “the state’s obligation to investigate each death in compliance with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights”. That article, which is incorporated into UK legislation, protects the right to life. Jones’s panel found that there had been a “disregard for human life” at the hospital and a “culture of shortening lives”. His report added that “when the relatives complained about the safety of patients and the appropriateness of their care, they were consistently let down by those in authority — both individuals and institutions”. Wilson and other families have long argued that Hampshire investigators failed to prevent some patients from being harmed and the independent panel described the force’s three investigations between 1998 and 2010 as “consistently poor”. The families went on to accuse 16 Hampshire officers of corruption and dishonesty over the investigations. The force has consistently denied wrongdoing and said that the actions of officers “were acceptable”. Kent police oversaw Operation Magenta, the fourth criminal investigation into the deaths, which so far has resulted in no charges. While no prosecutions have been brought over the allegations, in 2010 a doctor who oversaw prescribing on the wards was found guilty of serious professional misconduct by a General Medical Council tribunal. The IOPC told The Times that it was “aware that a judicial review claim has been submitted to the High Court in relation to reviews we have carried out into complaints made about the force’s investigation into the hospital deaths, which we are currently considering”.