Inquest Verdict Expected Into The Death Of One-Year-Old Girl

A Coroner is expected to deliver his verdict into the hospital death of a baby girl on Wednesday 14th November.

Hayley Fullerton had just celebrated her first birthday when she died at Birmingham Children’s Hospital after undergoing corrective surgery for a heart condition. Her death occurred on 11th November 2009, twelve days after being transferred from the hospital’s intensive care unit to a general ward.

HM Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, Aidan Cotter, heard three days of evidence in April 2012 but adjourned the inquest after the Hospital Trust requested permission to conduct their own expert report. The inquest reconvened for a further three days in September, before the coroner further adjourned the hearing in order to consider all the evidence.

Mr Cotter is due to deliver his verdict at 11.30am at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall.

Hayley’s devastated parents, Paula Stevenson and Bobby Fullerton will be flying back from their home in Australia to attend the hearing.

Specialist medical lawyer and Partner at Irwin Mitchell, Mandy Luckman, representing the family said: “The past few months have been extremely harrowing for the entire family.

“The verdict, which will be delivered in the same week that the family mark the third anniversary of Hayley’s tragic death, will be an important milestone for them, as they have always maintained that they cannot begin to move forward with their lives until the inquest is complete and they finally are able to understand why their daughter’s death occurred.”

Paula Stevenson commented: “The death of Hayley has had a devastating effect on our entire family. We have always believed that we owed it to our beautiful little girl to ensure that no stone was left unturned in our search to discover how she came to die.

“We would also like to thank members of the public who have sent so many messages of support to us. We have been touched by their kind words and this has given us the strength to continue our fight for answers.”