Cardiff Crown Court
Doctor formally acquitted of attempting to pervert the course of justice over child's death
Dr Joanne Rudling was formally acquitted after a hearing at the Old Bailey
Emily Pennink, Press Association Old Bailey Correspondent
Dr Joanne Rudling pictured arriving at Cardiff Crown Court (Image: Wales News Service Ltd.)
A GP cleared over the death of a 12-year-old boy has now been formally acquitted of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
In May, Joanne Rudling, 46, and her colleague, Lindsey Thomas, 41, went on trial at Cardiff Crown Court charged with the manslaughter of Ryan Morse by gross negligence.
The medics had been accused of failing in their duty of care towards the youngster, who died at his home in Brynithel, South Wales, in December 2012, after being plagued by a mystery four-month illness.
A post-mortem examination later showed he had Addison's disease – a treatable but also very rare condition.
During the trial the prosecution admitted the doctors could not have been expected to diagnose Addison's –which affects around 10 in every 100,000 people.
Dr Joanne Rudling (left) and Dr Lindsey Thomas (Image: Wales News)
Prosecution offered no evidence
Dr Thomas' case was thrown out and High Court judge Nicola Davies also ruled there was no case to answer on the manslaughter charge against Dr Rudling.
Her decision was upheld in the Court of Appeal and the Abertillery GP was absolved of blame over Ryan's death. She was due to face a retrial at Cardiff Crown Court over a charge of perverting the course of justice later this month.
But during a hearing at the Old Bailey the senior judge indicated that evidence the Crown sought to rely on would be excluded from the trial. So the prosecution offered no evidence and Dr Rudling was formally acquitted by Judge Davies.
The case heard that an Addison's disease crisis can be treated and its effects reversed.
Dr Thomas, of Tredegar, and Dr Rudling, of Cardiff, both denied gross-negligence manslaughter. Dr Rudling had also pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice with an entry in Ryan's medical notes.
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