Eye doctor guilty of criminal failings in boy death

AN optometrist who failed to spot abnormalities in the eyes of a boy who later died has been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter.

Eight-year-old Vincent Barker, known as Vinnie, died on July 13, 2012 – around five months after he had a routine eye test at Boots the Opticians in Upper Brook Street in Ipswich, Suffolk.

The conduct of locum optometrist Honey Rose, 35, fell so far below the standards expected that it was “criminal”, prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC said at the beginning of the trial.

Suffolk Police said the jury at Ipswich Crown Court found Rose, of High Street North, East Ham, guilty of manslaughter through gross negligence.

Jurors heard post-mortem examinations showed the cause of death was hydrocephalus – a build-up of fluid on the brain which led to an increase in pressure within his skull and, ultimately, his collapse and death.

Opening the prosecution case, Mr Rees said: “The prosecution allege that Vinnie’s death was preventable and would have been prevented had the defendant, Ms Rose, done her job properly.”

In a statement, Vinnie’s family – father and mother Ian and Joanne Barker and his four siblings – said: “The decision of a jury or judge cannot bring Vinnie back or undo the devastation of his death.

“A guilty verdict would never make us winners, our loss is simply too great.

“Our main concern has always been the accountability of those we entrust with our own health and the health of those we love.”

Rose will be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on August 25.