Death fall doctors to face retrial
Jan 24 2008 By Rod Minchin, The Journal
THREE Greek doctors convicted and later acquitted of the manslaughter by neglect of a North-East holidaymaker almost eight years ago will face a fresh trial next month.
Christopher Rochester fell 40ft from a Faliraki hotel balcony in 2000 and died after being left on a hospital trolley.
Doctors Stergios Pavlidis, Georgos Karavolias and Mihalis Sokorelos were convicted of manslaughter by neglect, but were acquitted on appeal. They will be retried next month by Rhodes magistrates after Mr Rochester’s family launched a private prosecution.
The 24-year-old, from Chester-le-Street, County Durham, died of internal bleeding at the island’s Andreas Papandreou Hospital, after being left unattended for three hours.
Each doctor was sentenced to three years in jail, but all were cleared on appeal in 2005. Following a long campaign by Mr Rochester’s family, the Greek Supreme Court ruled the appeal should be overturned and subsequently approved the retrial.
Mr Rochester’s mother and stepfather, Pam and George Cummings, have raised about £6,000 but still need to find another £3,000 to pay their legal costs. Mr Cummings said: “Our legal team is very hopeful and optimistic. We know the strength of our evidence and we have no qualms whatsoever that a fresh criminal trial should re-convict these three doctors.
“These people have no right whatsoever to be in the profession they are in. It’s unforgivable. They swore to be doctors to protect and sustain life throughout their professional careers. In this case they decided to sit back and do nothing. And even at the cost of one human life, that is one human life too many.”
When the holidaymaker’s body was returned to the UK, a post-mortem examination found one of his kidneys was missing. An organ was later sent to the family, but tests failed to produce a DNA match.
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