Jennifer Horne Roberts' address for ‘the MMR10’ to Case
Management Conference on 24th July 2006 in The High Court
These proceedings have unfortunately come to a close for ‘the MMR10’.
The issue of compensation for these severely injured children, who we say are
the victims of the MMR jab, remains unresolved.
The direct consequence of the withdrawal of legal aid by the Legal Services
Commission was that the trial of the action against the pharmaceutical companies
could not proceed.
We are no less convinced of our cause. We had and have expert evidence of 28
expert witnesses who we say could have proved our case at trial ‘on the balance
of probabilities’.
It is not possible to proceed alone without legal aid because the cost of expert
witnesses could not be met and there is no protection against costs without a
legal aid certificate.
Also an effective legal team is necessary to present the case against powerful
pharmaceutical companies.
Our only way forward since we don't have the resources to proceed to trial was
to abandon our claims or see them struck out. It is with the very greatest
regret that we have been put it in this position.
The response of the parents of the 10 children, the 'MMR10', has been to
challenge withdrawal of legal aid by way of judicial review. We have done so
with myself as the barrister mother of Harry, one of the 'MMR10', as advocate.
We have taken the matter through the High Court and Court of Appeal
where the judgments were gagged, or in the case of Court of Appeal partially
gagged.
The case is now lodged in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)which is the
Court of last resort.
The challenge in the ECHR is on the basis of denial of access to justice since
we have been denied a trial in the UK. We seek compensation for that.
We also seek a recommendation from the European Court of Human Rights that the
10 years limitation period in the Consumer Protection Act 1987 should be
extended very substantially throughout these children’s lives, as is currently
the case in negligence actions brought by disabled children; or for the
foreseeable use of the product.
As more evidence emerges in our favour - the Walker/Krigsman findings very
recently have backed up those of the Dr Wakefield Team published from 1998
onwards-It may be that we can resurrect our claims under the 1987 Act as more
and conclusive evidence emerges. The cases of many of the children will require
extension of the limitation period.
If that occurs we can look forward to this litigation being recommenced and
proceeding in future. In any event we are likely to be seeking to pursue
negligence claims against the pharmaceutical companies at some point in the
future.
The case in the European Court of Human Rights is against the UK. We say the
British Government role in the MMR matter is wholly unacceptable.
This is one of the greatest if not the greatest scandals in medical history
affecting 10's of thousands of children in this country. The latest estimate is
that more than 1 in 100 of the child population is now autistic. There must be
many millions worldwide.
The cost is untold and untellable misery for the victims and their families. The
response of the Government has been tried to deny the truth, and refuse to
investigate.
We are confident only that history will condemn their actions in the strongest
terms. We fight on in the European Court of Human Rights and with a campaign
that will never end for justice for these children.
And for the future for policies to save guard the health of the world's
children, not to expose them to unacceptable risks as at present.
We call for the introduction of single jabs in the UK now so that parents have a
choice. For our severely and unjustly injured children the fight goes on.
The fight goes on in litigation in other countries. There is no hiding place for
those who have been privy to this modern day 'slaughter of the innocents'.
Recent research shows that in the Amish and other communities in the US, where
they do not vaccinate their children, autism is unknown.
We the ‘MMR10’ have written two books on our fight and with assessment of
evidence in the case; the first in the UK courts, the second as the case goes
before the European Court of Human Rights. A film is due to be made of this
story.
These books can be found on the website at:
http://www.horne-roberts.co.uk/ebook/ACCESS_to_JUSTICE.html
http://www.horne-roberts.co.uk/ebook/ACCESS_to_JUSTICE.pdf
There is more information on the JABS website at:
www.jabs.org.uk