Daughter hits out at doctor's appeal bid

The daughter of a Staffordshire mother who was killed after being given a lethal injection of adrenaline has hit out at the doctor who tried to get her conviction overturned.

Debbie Newton, aged 41, said she is angry Dr Priya Ramnath, appealed - although it proved unsuccessful - and said the doctor has never shown any remorse to her family over the death of her mother Patricia Leighton who died in 1998, aged 51. Mrs Leighton, from Dewsbury Drive, Burntwood, died in Stafford Hospital in July 1998.

She had been admitted with severe septic shock.

Mrs Leighton was a chronic sufferer of rheumatoid arthritis. She died from a heart attack after receiving a fatal dose of adrenaline.

Mrs Newton, aged 41, from Chasetown, said: "We are very upset that Dr Ramnath chose to appeal. Not once in the 12 years since my mother's death has she apologised to our family for what she did and what she has put us through.

"It has been a very difficult 12 years for our family including my dad Brian and sister Nicky but we hope we can move on now."

Dr Priya Ramnath received a suspended six-month sentence at Birmingham Crown Court in February after she was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter.

Lord Justice Hooper turned down her appeal at the Appeal Court in London last week. Ramnath challenged her conviction with claims that there was no basis for the jury's finding of gross negligence.

Her lawyers argued that the entire issue of the precise cause of death was also unclear.

However, Lord Justice Hooper said there was enough evidence for the jury to find the adrenaline injection was the "substantial cause of death".

He said that Mrs Leighton was still alert before Dr Ramnath, 42, injected her with adrenaline to boost her blood pressure.

She did so despite clear warnings from her superior, the judge said and there was evidence that the dose triggered the cardiac arrest which killed Mrs Leighton.