§ Mr. David AtkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Operation Antler inquiry by Wiltshire police into experiments on service volunteers at Porton Down. [4588]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Operation Antler inquiry is a continuing criminal investigation. Wiltshire police are in the process of interviewing a number of former Porton Down scientists and medical staff who were involved in conducting trials and experiments upon service personnel who attended Porton Down as part of the Service Volunteer Programme between 1939 and 1989. Wiltshire police will send comprehensive reports to the Crown Prosecution Service when these are completed.
As part of the inquiry, Wiltshire police have forwarded a report on the death of the serviceman Ronald Maddison to Her Majesty's Coroner for Wiltshire. The Coroner is in the process of seeking authority from the Attorney-General under section 13 of the Coroners Act 1988 to make an application to the High Court of Justice for an Order to have the original verdict of misadventure quashed and for a fresh inquest to be held.