Prisoner's claim delayed by Home Office
December 31, 2007
A convict left brain-damaged through apparent blunders by prison doctors is to be the subject of a medical negligence compensation claim.
Ryan St George was found by the High Court earlier this year to have been accidentally starved of oxygen in 1997, following an epileptic fit.
Medical staff at Brixton Prison, the judge ruled, made mistakes in their treatment.
However, the government is appealing this decision, meaning that the medical negligence proceedings will be delayed once more.
The appeal will be heard in the New Year - over a decade after the original incident.
Talking to the Camden New Journal, the 39-year-old's father David said that the family "cannot accept" the fact that the Home Office, which runs the prison service, was contesting the High Court's medical negligence verdict.
"[The judge] was completely impartial and came to his decision in our favour after evaluating all the testimony presented by both sides," Mr St George added.
"It's another setback, but we’re patient and confident that appeal judges will come out on our side: I believe the Home Office are clutching at straws with this latest move."