Anger at charges snub over boy's death

A MOTHER has spoken of her anger after being told nobody is to face charges after her son died after being given a huge overdose of an anti-epilepsy drug.

Five-year-old Bailey Ratcliffe, was given seven times too much phenytoin in May last year and his family has been further upset by a decision not to prosecute anyone involved in his care. They are now awaiting his inquest.

Bailey's family have now been told there is insufficient evidence for a realistic chance of a conviction for manslaughter by gross negligence.

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Mum Carrianne Ratcliffe, of Dewsbury, said: "It has destroyed our lives. It's disgusting."

Bailey, who was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of two, was taken to hospital on May 27 last year after suffering seizures. His condition deteriorated and medics were unable to resuscitate him.

A letter from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was clear Bailey's "sad and most untimely death was caused by the excessive amount of phenytoin to which he had been subjected".

It added: "Errors clearly occurred here, with the most calamitous consequences for you and your family."

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The reviewing lawyer from the CPS Special Crime Division, Alison Storey, said the circumstances around his death were "nothing less than shocking".

She said: "The law sets an extremely high evidential hurdle for bringing charges for this offence as the prosecution must prove that individuals caused the death by grossly breaching their duty of care to the person who died.

"I concluded that it was not possible to prove this to the required standard in this case."

The medical director at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Prof Tim Hendra, said yesterday: "We are deeply sorry for what happened."

He said steps had been taken to improve practice and now the police investigation had finished it would consider if further action was needed.