Bereaved dad calls for awareness of Addison’s
ABEREAVED father who has spent more than 25 years fighting for justice for his son has once again called for more awareness of the condition that killed his little boy.
The warning follows the death of another child at the hands of Addison’s disease.
Robbie Powell, of Ystradgynlais in Powys, died aged 10 in 1990 as a result of medical negligence after he contracted the disease.
His father Will Powell has campaigned ever since for those responsible to face prosecution.
He has called for a greater awareness among doctors of the symptoms of Addison’s, which can prove fatal if they are not treated appropriately.
This week the father of Cardiff schoolgirl Ffion Jones, 12, has been undertaking a sponsored charity walk from north Wales to south Wales in memory of his daughter, who died from Addison’s in December 2016.
Mr Powell said: “My sympathy goes out to Ffion’s parents, family and friends.
“Addison’s disease can strike very quickly and it’s very important that doctors are able to recognise its symptoms and treat them.”
In the two weeks before Robbie Powell’s death, the schoolboy was seen seven times by five doctors, none of whom diagnosed the condition.
Dyfed-Powys Police investigated his death, but the inquiry did not lead to any prosecutions, even though evidence emerged that there had been falsification of Robbie’s medical records.
An investigation of the force’s handling of the matter by Avon and Somerset Police found it was badly managed by senior detectives.
In 2000, Dyfed-Powys Police invited an independent officer from another force to review its work.
Detective Chief Inspector Bob Poole, then of West Midlands police, launched Operation Radiance, which uncovered evidence against the doctors, variously of negligence, gross negligence, forgery and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
He recommended that 35 criminal charges should be brought, but senior officials at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) subsequently decided against pursuing such a course because too much time had elapsed since Robbie’s death.
In March 2013 an adjournment debate about Robbie’s case took place in the House of Commons, initiated by Will Powell’s former MP Jonathan Evans.
In May 2014 Mr Powell had a meeting with the newly-appointed CPS prosecutor Karen Harrold who had not previously been involved in the case. The meeting, lasting seven hours, was at Mr Evans’ office.
Ms Harrold said she would be compiling a report, regarding a legal review, for the recently appointed Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders to consider.
Both Mr Powell and Mr Evans were told that they would receive the draft report for comment and that it would not be sent to Saunders until they were satisfied with the content.
Instead, however, a barrister, Mark Heywood QC, was appointed to review the decision not to mount prosecutions. Mr Powell was told this in October 2014, in which it was also agreed he would provide a formal statement. He is still waiting.
Instead of immediately providing Mr Heywood with the Operation Radiance files, as Mr Poole had done with the CPS in York in 2002, Ms Harrold gave him numerous other documents including the subsequent inquest transcripts.
It took around 20 months for Mr Heywood to receive the Operation Radiance files, and Mr Powell still does not know exactly what documents have been disclosed.
Mr Powell has also not been granted meetings with Ms Saunders or Mr Heywood.
A spokesman for the CPS said: “I’m afraid there’s not a great deal we can say – the case review is ongoing.”