London

Maddison: a victim of sarin? Credit: PA

The British Ministry of Defence (MOD) is launching a new investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of an airman who took part in military experiments with chemical warfare agents nearly 50 years ago.

Ronald Maddison died in 1953, allegedly after the nerve agent sarin was dripped onto a patch of uniform taped to his arm in experiments aimed at establishing toxicity thresholds.

The MOD said on 1 May that it will carry out a 'historical survey' of its service volunteer programme, which ran from 1939 to 1989 at Porton Down in Wiltshire. Formerly the site of controversial research on chemical and biological weapons, the centre remains active, working on defences against such weapons.

There have been claims that some volunteers were duped into taking part in nerve-gas trials, thinking they were helping to find a cure for the common cold. About 250 veterans who were involved in tests at Porton Down have formed a support group and have called on the MOD to investigate the possible health effects of the trials.

The review will be supervised by Ian Kennedy, a respected medical ethicist at University College London. An MOD spokesperson says it will cover “absolutely everything surrounding the programme — who took part, how the volunteers were recruited, the way in which the programme was described to them and what they were told was taking place”.

In defence: Porton Down, previously the site of biological and chemical weapons research. Credit: C. ISON/PA

The announcement of the MOD review comes two months after the coroner, the local official responsible for enquiries into violent or accidental deaths, rejected the 1953 misadventure verdict returned on Maddison's death by an inquest held behind closed doors. That decision followed a two-year police inquiry into events at Porton Down. The coroner's office is now awaiting a decision from the Attorney-General in London on a request to reopen the inquest, but does not expect a reply this year.

The MOD says its review is “not particularly related” to the coroner's desire to reopen the inquest, but that it is responding to public interest generated by the police inquiry. The reviewers will report next spring to the MOD, which says it will publish the findings.