On the second day of his trial for allegedly breaching data protection laws, Mr Syvret yesterday attacked the competency and quality of the 1999 inquiry that investigated, but never charged, a male nurse.
Mr Syvret, representing himself, spent two-and-a-half hours cross-examining a former policeman who had led the investigation.
Graham Jennings, who was the chief executive of Health and Social Services from 1996 to 2002, and Mike Pollard, who was chief officer of Health and Social Services between 2004 and 2009, were among those who gave evidence yesterday.
• Full report in today’s JEPnextpage
Former DI Barry Faudemer wrote a police report in 1999 that was prompted by a spate of deaths at the Hospital between February and March of that year. Mr Syvret posted the report on his internet blog last March, along with comments that a former nurse was a Harold Shipman-style serial killer.
In the Magistrate’s Court yesterday Mr Syvret argued that the investigation into the former nurse was flawed and asked Mr Faudemer numerous questions about the details of the case.
Among his assertions, Mr Syvret claimed that an expert doctor reviewing medical notes did not have a medical degree. He also questioned why hospital doctors were not interviewed.
But Mr Faudemer maintained throughout the lengthy question time that the investigation was thorough and competent. He explained that the expert doctor had been recommended by the National Crime Faculty and that doctors would have been interviewed had the investigation continued. However, he said, no evidence came to light to charge the nurse and take the case further.
Assistant Magistrate Bridget Shaw and Crown Advocate Stephen Baker both tried to steer Mr Syvret to ask questions that were relevant to his own case rather than the 1999 investigation.
Next to take the stand was Graham Jennings, who was the chief executive of Health and Social Services from 1996 to 2002. He told Crown Advocate Baker that he had faced opposition when he sacked the nurse in 1999.
Mr Syvret, cross-examining, said that Mr Jennings should have done more to support the police investigation at the time. He accused the former chief officer of being a ‘textbook’ Jersey civil servant who was ‘more concerned about brushing things under the carpet’.
Mr Jennings denied the accusations and said: ‘I didn’t come here for a lecture from you. I am fully aware of my ethical and legal responsibilities. If I had any concern whatsoever that patients were being murdered at the General Hospital, I would have been lending my wholehearted support to the investigation.’
When the third witness, Mike Pollard, who was chief officer of Health and Social Services between 2004 and 2009, took to the stand, Mr Syvret accused him of being a ‘liar and a crook’.
The court heard that the Metropolitan Police reviewed the original investigation, codenamed Operation Regent, after Mr Syvret posted the report on his blog last year. The review concluded that there were no grounds to reopen the case.
But Mr Syvret claimed that the Jersey Police and the Metropolitan Police had an ‘unprofessional and unhealthy’ relationship.
The trial continues.
