Petting farm not disputing liability in E.coli outbreak legal case (From Redhill And Reigate Life)

Petting farm not disputing liability in E.coli outbreak legal case

4:47pm Monday 17th January 2011 in Local News

The petting farm at the centre of an E.coli outbreak that left several children seriously ill will not be disputing liability in the legal case against it.

A total of 93 people became infected with the bug following visits to Godstone Farm, near Redhill, in August 2009.

Seventy-six of those taken ill were children under the age of ten.

Now law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, which is representing 27 children affected by the outbreak, has said it has received confirmation from Godstone Farm that it will not be disputing liability in the case.

Two of those worst affected were twins Todd and Aaron Furnell, now aged three, who became infected with the bug while on a school trip to the farm.

They suffered kidney failure and spent several weeks in hospital, leaving Todd with 80% kidney function and Aaron with just 64%, the law firm said.

Their mother, Tracy Mock, said: "I am very pleased that we have been successful in this case.”

She said: “As a family we have suffered significant pain and distress and may still not know for many years to come the long-term consequences for the twins' health."

A report released in June last year found there were numerous failings in the way the farm handled the outbreak - the largest linked to an open farm in the UK - and in its appreciation of the risk associated with E.coli O157.

The damning report, led by George Griffin, professor of infectious diseases and medicine at St George's, University of London, found a "substantial" number of cases at the farm could have been prevented if health chiefs had responded more quickly.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) missed a key opportunity to take action which would have restricted the size of the outbreak, the independent investigation found.

Godstone Farm remained open over the August Bank Holiday weekend - receiving 5,500 visitors, including 2,000 children - despite the fact officials already knew about three or four cases of the bug.

It eventually shut on September 12, about four weeks after the first case of the bug was reported.

A spokeswoman for Godstone Farm said the children affected by the outbreak "have never been far from our thoughts and prayers."