Enjoy Discounted Exercise Equipment From Leading Sales Outlets
SEARCH IT

CHANNELS
Encyclopedia Astronautica
SERVICES
 
Spacer Homebase
No criminal trial over Britain's chemical warfare "guinea pigs"
LONDON (AFP) Jul 08, 2003
An inquiry into the deaths of British soldiers allegedly used as "guinea pigs" over 50 years in chemical warfare tests, has ruled there is insufficient evidence for a criminal trial, state prosecutors said Tuesday.

British police investigated the cases of some 700 servicemen and women who took part in tests at the defence ministry's Porton Down laboratories on Salisbury Plain, western England, between 1939 and 1989.

Many of them believed they had been taking part in experiments to find a cure for the common cold but say they were instead subjected to exposure of mustard gas and hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD.

Ruling out a criminal trial, the Crown Prosecution Service said it had given "thorough and careful consideration to all the evidence submitted in a number of sample cases and decided that it is insufficient to prosecute in those cases.

"Inquiries continue in one further case," the prosecutors' statement added.

The police investigation, codenamed Operation Antler, was launched in September 1999 when officers began probing allegations made by veterans about the tests.

Senior prosecutor Kate Leonard, said: "The ensuing police investigation was extensive and involved statements being taken from many hundreds of veterans. A wide range of inquiries was made relating to the nature of the work carried out at Porton Down."

Ken Earl, chairman of the Porton Down Veterans Support Group, said his members would be very disappointed at the prosecutors' decision.

Earl, 69, said veterans' lives had been blighted by the tests and they typically suffered from heart, nerve and spinal problems and depression.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Quick Links
SpaceWar
Search SpaceWar
Subscribe To SpaceWar Express

SpaceWar Search Engine
SUBSCRIBE TO THE SPACEWAR NEWSLETTER
SubscribeUnsubscribe
  

WAR.WIRE
  • Yemen Huthi media say one dead in air strikes
  • Iran says wants dialogue 'on equal footing' with US
  • India navy delivers aid to quake-hit Myanmar
  • Cambodia hails opening of naval base renovated by China
  • North Korea's Kim fires new sniper rifle while visiting troops
  • US defense chief to visit Panama next week: Pentagon
  • Burkina junta critic arrested in growing crackdown: civil group
  • Russian missile strike kills 14 in Ukraine leader's home city
  • Russian missile strike kills 12 in Ukraine leader's home city
  • Cuba looks to sun to solve its energy crisis
    SPACEDAILY NEWS
     Feb 11, 2005
  • NASA Observations Help Determine Titan Wind Speeds
  • Cassini Spacecraft Witnesses Saturn's Blues
  • US Orientation Engine Fails On ISS
  • NASA Names Two Future Space Shuttle Crews
  • Simulations Show How Growing Black Holes Regulate Galaxy Formation
  • In The Stars: Odd Stars, Odder Planets
  • Natural Climate Change May Be Larger Than Commonly Thought
  • Earth Gets A Warm Feeling All Over
  • Satamatics Flying At Over 50,000 Terminals
  • Digital Angel To Expand OuterLink Subsidiary's Flight Tracking System
  • LockMart Delivers First Modernized GPS Satellite To USAF For May Launch
  • World's Fastest Oscillating Nanomachine Holds Promise For Quantum Computing
  • Carnegie Mellon's Red Team Seeks $2 Million Robot Racing Prize
  • Kionix Ships The World's Smallest High-Performance Tri-Axis Accelerometer
  • Northrop Grumman/Raytheon Team To Compete For GOES-R System
  • Blue Planet: The Fading Songs Of Whales
  • New Cameras Turn Night Into Day
  • North Korea Suspends Talks, Says It Will Build More Nuclear Bombs
  • Analysis: How Super Is The Superpower?
  • Walker's World: Why Rice Should Thank Zarqawi
  • NATO Agrees Expansion Of Afghan Force
  • North Korea Probably Bluffing Over Nuclear Threat: Australia
  • US Options Seen Limited Against Nuclear-Armed North Korea
  • Six Iraqi Policemen Killed, US Helicopters Fire Missiles To End Siege
  • Germany And Malaysia Urge Peace In Tsunami-Ravaged Aceh
  • Task Of Collecting Indonesia's Tsunami Dead Will Take Six Months: Red Cross
  • EU Brings Forward Preferential Trade Scheme For Developing Countries
  • Cambodia's Former Forestry Monitor Blasts World Bank Over Logging
  • Thales Posts Lower Sales In 2004, Missing Own Target
  • Rolls-Royce Profits Rise; Orders At Record Levels

  • The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2002 - SpaceDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement