'Don't let blood be on your hands', mother tells inquiry

A mother whose son died after receiving contaminated blood products has told the Infected Blood Inquiry that those responsible must not be allowed to escape accountability, delivering one of the most powerful testimonies in the long-running investigation.

The woman, whose son contracted hepatitis C and HIV from blood products used to treat his haemophilia as a child, addressed the inquiry chairman directly. "Do not let blood be on your hands too," she said. "This inquiry must lead to prosecutions. Anything less is a continuation of the cover-up that killed my son."

Her testimony came during the final phase of the inquiry, which is examining the criminal liability of individuals and organisations involved in what has been described as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. An estimated 3,000 people died after being given blood products contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C during the 1970s and 1980s, and tens of thousands more were infected.

The inquiry has already established that successive governments, the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry failed to act on clear evidence that the blood products were dangerous. Documents showed that officials were warned about the risks as early as the 1970s but continued to import products from the United States, where donors in prisons were paid for blood that carried a high risk of contamination.

The government has accepted the moral case for compensation and has begun making interim payments to survivors and bereaved families. But the question of criminal accountability remains unresolved. The Crown Prosecution Service is waiting for the inquiry's final report before deciding whether to bring charges.

The inquiry chairman said the mother's testimony would weigh heavily on the final recommendations, which are expected before the end of the year.