Rosemary Nelson Inquiry

Terms of Reference: "To inquire into the circumstances that led to the Outbreak of E.coli O157 infection in South Wales in September 2005, and into the handling of the outbreak; and to consider the implications for the future and make recommendations accordingly"The National Assembly for Wales set up the Inquiry following a report by a cross-party committee of Assembly Members. The inquiry was established under The Inquiries Act 2005.

The Welsh Assembly Government provided funding to support the Inquiry but the Inquiry was independent of both the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government. Professor Hugh Pennington alone was responsible for the conduct of the Inquiry.

Chair: Professor Hugh Pennington

Dates: Establishment:

Hearings: The Inquiry held its Preliminary Hearing on Tuesday, 27th June 2006. The Inquiry took a significant amount of additional evidence in public through its programme of oral hearings, which started on Tuesday 12 February 2008 and concluded on Wednesday 19 March 2008.   Participants had the opportunity to make closing submissions before another hearing, which took place on Wednesday, 14 May 2008. At the Hearing, Counsel for each participant made a closing statement highlighting the key points of their submission.

Report: Published on 19 March 2009.

Link to website and or download report:
http://wales.gov.uk/ecoliinquiry
http://wales.gov.uk/ecolidocs/3008707/reporten.pdf

Description of the events which caused the public concern: September 2005 saw the largest ever outbreak of E. coli O157 in Wales and the second largest in the UK. There were more than 150 cases, most of whom were children. Thirty one people were admitted to hospital and tragically, five year old Mason Jones died.

Litigation: None known.