Contaminated blood pupils face school trust in court

Former pupils of a school where disabled children were infected with contaminated blood are seeking damages from its trust at the High Court.

At least 72 children died after being given a drug contaminated with HIV and viral hepatitis at Treloar's school in Hampshire in the 1970s and 1980s.

Lead claimant Gary Webster told the BBC: "We trusted our doctors, we looked up to our doctors... we find it disgusting."

The men are hoping to win the right to pursue a claim from Treloar Trust, though the trust believes the government should pay.

In the mid-1970s when a new treatment for haemophilia became available, blood plasma used to make the drug was imported from overseas, most notably the US.

Batches were widely contaminated with hepatitis A, B, C and later HIV.

Treloar's, near Alton, once had a specialist NHS haemophilia centre on site.

The surviving pupils, known as the Treloar's Boys, have suffered life-long ill health and life-affecting consequences, including physical and psychological harm, their lawyers say.

The school was condemned in an inquiry into the UK-wide infected blood scandal last year.

It is a rare genetic condition in which the blood does not clot properly. It mostly affects men.

People with the condition produce lower amounts of the essential blood-clotting protein known as factor VIII and IX.

Treloar's Boys have applied for a group litigation order against the trust.

Mr Webster, who was at the school from 1975 to 1983 and is representing 36 former pupils, said: "I was there for eight years and I was constantly - unbeknown to me at the time - used as a guinea pig, and this was without any parental consent… by doctors who weren't employed by the NHS but were actually employed by the Treloar Trust.

"That's why we believe that Treloar Trust should take part responsibility for this tragedy."

Adrian Goodyear, who was a pupil from 1980 to 1989, added: "What we're here for today is to get them to at least come to our side of the fence to confess... their role in this tragedy, because it is a scandal."

He said that "thus far they've not really engaged with us in the way that we hoped they would".

In a statement Treloar's said: "Both parties have put forward their arguments in this case and they will now be carefully considered.

"While we fully sympathise with our former students' campaign, we firmly believe that the best route to receive timely and substantial recompense is via the government compensation scheme."

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority was set up in May following the inquiry.

It previously said it was "starting small" when it came to claims because of the complexity of some cases, but pledged the process would speed up from April this year.

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