Baby's injuries report kept secret

Baby's injuries report kept secret

Andy Martin and Jacqueline McIntyre
BBC Northern Ireland reporters

After almost two years, a Department of Health review into the death of an adopted Romanian child has yet to be seen by the Northern Ireland health minister.

The BBC has seen documentation that confirms the one-year-old child had sustained up to 16 fractures before he died.

The official cause of death remains "undetermined", and no explanation has ever been offered for the injuries.

The BBC began looking at the case when former overseas missionary, Geoffrey Briggs, was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to one of his adopted sons.

Mr Briggs and his wife had travelled to Romania from their home in Portadown, County Armagh, to adopt twin boys in July 2000.

Three months later, one of the children was brought to Craigavon Area hospital, and was pronounced dead on arrival.

A post mortem examination was carried out, and the suspected cause of death appears to have been meningitis.

No death certificate was issued.

Thirteen days later, the twin brother of the dead boy was brought in to the same hospital.

He was described as being "floppy and un-responsive".

He was later discovered to have a fractured skull, and an older fracture to his collarbone.

Mr Briggs later admitted to having punched the child, and was sentenced to a year in prison for causing him grievous bodily harm.

It was at this stage that focus shifted to the circumstances of the death of the first child.

The coroner ordered the body be exhumed, and an examination of the X-rays taken at the time of admission were found to show the child had suffered extensive injuries.

We now know that this child had suffered approximately 16 fractures.

He had multiple rib fractures, found to have occurred about three to four weeks before his death.

There were also earlier fractures of the rib cage, two to three months old.

Many other injuries to the torso were also discovered, with fractures dating from between three weeks and three months before his death.

Additionally, there were separate fractures found to be just over a month old.

The cause of these injuries has never been determined, but there is no suggestion that the fractures led to the death of the child.

Documentation seen by the BBC indicates that the medical opinion offered suggests that these injuries were not caused by accident.

It was believed that they were caused by what experts call "trauma".

We understand that Mr Briggs has said he does not believe these injuries were sustained by the child while he was in the care of anyone else.

Following these findings, the Department of Health in August 2001 requested a review of the case.

The BBC understands that the report has been completed for some time, and is in the office of the new Health Minister, Angela Smith.

It has not yet been assessed by any of the recent ministers to have held that post.

Reports

Other reports have also been conducted.

In January 2001, the director of child and family care in the Craigavon and Banbridge Trust, Louis Boyle, began a case management review with the Southern Health and Social Services Board.

That report was delivered four months later, but no information was made available to the public.

It has been kept highly confidential.

We understand the report was critical of a range of medical, health and social work staff.

In May that year, Mr Boyle was suspended, and reinstated shortly afterwards, having been totally exonerated.

At the time that the Department of Health report was commissioned, then minister Bairbre de Brun said that the findings would be made public.

No inquest has been held into the death of the child, and no death certificate was issued.

State Pathologist Professor Jack Crane has changed the procedure.

Any examination of a dead child must now be supervised by a paediatric pathologist.

Professor Crane is also reviewing the management of cases when a dead child is brought to hospital.