Hi

well its 3am here in england,and i have just woken up.Despite a good size glass of wine,the events of the day have left me shocked and just a little dazed.
The start of the hearing was delayed as the dentist decided to change his story and actually admitted most of the charges.His defence also submiited new evidence from an expert witness which the court officials had to examine. I was introduced to the GDC barrister who talked me through the procedures, and then came the body blow.

She explained that while it was evident that the dentist was guilty of the charges,the professional conduct comittee are not really interested in wether his negligence contributed to Robins death,but are judging wether or not by his actions and behaviour he is a threat to the general public.

While they are taking the charges seriously they are most concerned about his standing as a dentist and how he has brought the profession in to disrepute.
She feels that even though he has now admitted his mistake , the hearing is the worst scenario that a dentist can face,and it is likely the committee may decide that this enquiry and court appearance will result in the dentist never again being so derelict in his duty and therefore he poses no future threat to his patients.
in short this b***** may be back at work on Monday morning albeit with his reputation severely tarnished.
I was what is called the main core case witness and gave my evidence and was questioned by the committee for one hour before lunch,and a further one hour after lunch,keeping myself together quite nicely until the point they asked me to describe the course of Robs treatment and death.As is my nature,i pulled no punches and let them have a graphic account of the effects of the rads and the the recurrance,and at that point i did get very emotional,but when the defence council stood up for the cross examination and opened his statement by telling the court that his client had admitted his mistake and would like to extend his apologies to myself and robs family,i soon regained my composure and found my backbone again,

The case is not expected to conclude until Thursday at the earliest and may possibly go on until Friday so i will not have any further news until i get a phone call when the verdict is in.

The press were in the public gallery,and approached my barrister for a photograph of Rob,and will possibly be in touch with me when the verdict is announced and i will hopefully have the chance to express my utter disbelief at this turn of events.
i can of course take this courts findings to a medical negligence lawyer,and go on to sue the backside off him,which at the moment i am reserving judgment on,but if he escapes any sort of suspension or supervision order,then i feel inclined to pursue this in a court of law that is more concerned with the results of his actions on robs life.

thanks to all of you for the wonderful support and i will let you know when the verdict is in.
the results will be published on the website which you can access via the link i gave you.

love liz