BENJAMIN GEEN: U.K. FORMER NURSE CONVICTED OF MURDERING 2 PATIENTS AND INJURING 15 OTHERS; LINKED TO DUTCH LUCY DE BERK AND BRITISH SALLY CLARK CASES

"GEEN'S CASE WAS REVIEWED BY LAWYERS AND VOLUNTEERS FROM THE LONDON INNOCENCE PROJECT. THE REVIEW FOUND A NUMBER OF FLAWS IN THE ORIGINAL TRIAL, AND LAWYERS CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT GEEN WAS "THE VICTIM OF A MAJOR MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE." A LEADING MEDICAL STATISTICIAN, PROF JANE HUTTON, SUBMITTED THAT THE CROWN'S CENTRAL EVIDENCE - THAT THERE HAD BEEN AN 'UNUSUAL' PATTERN OF ILLNESSES - WAS OF 'NO VALUE' BECAUSE NO STATISTICAL MODELLING HAD BEEN DONE TO SHOW THAT THE PATTERN WAS UNUSUAL. SHE FOUND THE 'PATTERN' METHOD TO BE AT GRAVE RISK OF BIAS. DR MARK HEATH, A CONSULTANT ANAESTHESIOLOGIST WHO HAS TESTIFIED IN US SUPREME COURT CASES, FOUND THE PATTERN OF PATIENT COLLAPSES TO BE TOTALLY INCONSISTENT WITH THE DRUGS GEEN WAS SAID TO HAVE INJECTED IN SEVEN CASES. RATHER THAN PASSING OUT, PATIENTS INJECTED WITH MUSCLE RELAXANTS AS THE CROWN STATED WOULD BE PARALYSED, UNABLE TO BREATH BUT TOTALLY CONCIOUS AND TERRIFIED. OTHER DOCTORS CAME FORWARD WHO DECIDED THAT THE CAUSE OF DEATH IN MR ONLEY, A GRAVELY ILL PATIENT WHO GEEN WAS ALLEGED TO HAVE KILLED, WAS NOT A HEART ATTACK TRIGGERED BY RESPIRATORY ARREST BUT LIVER FAILURE.

WIKIPEDIA;

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Publisher's note: The Benjamin Geen case has been noted for its similarities to two notorious miscarriages of justice: The Sally Clark case, and more recently the Lucia De Berk case. (Lucia de Berk, often called Lucia de B. or Lucy de B (born September 22, 1961 in The Hague, Netherlands) is a Dutch licenced paediatric nurse, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003 for four murders and three attempted murders of patients in her care. After an appeal, she was convicted in 2004 of seven murders and three attempts. Her conviction is controversial in the media and amongst scientists. (The statistical under-pinnings of the convictions) In October 2008, the case was reopened by the Dutch supreme court, as new facts had been uncovered that completely undermined the previous verdicts. De Berk was set free, and her case was re-tried; she was exonerated in April 2010.) We will be following developments in the Geen case on this Blog.

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"Benjamin Geen is a former nurse convicted of murdering two patients and causing grievous bodily harm to 15 others while working at Horton General Hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire," the Wikipedia entry begins.

"Crime: Between December 2003 and February 2004, at least 17 patients suffered respiratory arrests for then-unknown reasons," the entry continues.

"While 15 patients recovered soon after, two patients died in January 2004: Anthony Bateman and David Onley. Geen, who was on duty during these incidents, was arrested on February 9, 2004, whereupon a syringe filled with a lethal dose of muscle relaxant was discovered in his pocket.

The hospital found 27 cases that Geen could have been involved in, though nine were discounted and Geen was acquitted of one other case.

Trial

During his trial, the Oxford Crown Court was told that Geen purposely used potentially lethal doses of drugs to cause patients to stop breathing because he enjoyed the thrill of resuscitating them. He was found guilty in April 2006, and given 17 life sentences. The trial judge recommended that he should spend at least 30 years in prison before being considered for parole. This recommendation is likely to keep him behind bars until at least 2035.
Appeal

Geen's case was reviewed by lawyers and volunteers from the London Innocence Project. The review found a number of flaws in the original trial, and lawyers came to the conclusion that Geen was "the victim of a major miscarriage of justice."

A leading medical statistician, Prof Jane Hutton, submitted that the Crown's central evidence - that there had been an 'unusual' pattern of illnesses - was of 'no value' because no statistical modelling had been done to show that the pattern was unusual. She found the 'pattern' method to be at grave risk of bias.

Dr Mark Heath, a consultant anaesthesiologist who has testified in US supreme court cases, found the pattern of patient collapses to be totally inconsistent with the drugs Geen was said to have injected in seven cases. Rather than passing out, patients injected with muscle relaxants as the crown stated would be paralysed, unable to breath but totally concious and terrified.

Other doctors came forward who decided that the cause of death in Mr Onley, a gravely ill patient who Geen was alleged to have killed, was not a heart attack triggered by respiratory arrest but liver failure.

Mark McDonald, Geen's barrister, has stated that he believes the case against Geen was the product of a "witch-hunt" in a health service terrified of a repeat of the case of Dr Harold Shipman.

A first Appeal failed in November 2009. In February 2010, lawyers submitted Geen's case to the Criminal Case Review Commission and a public campaign was launched."

The Wikipedia entry can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Geen

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;