Justice for a 'North East lad'

By James Lynn
BBC News, Newcastle

Mr Rochester died after being left on a hospital trolley

When Pam Cummings answered the telephone on 11 June 2000, her life changed forever.

Speaking from Rhodes in Greece, her son Keith was calling to break the news of his brother's death.

"They did nothing for him, mam," he told her. "They did nothing."

He was talking about the island's Andreas Papandreou Hospital, where Christopher Rochester had been taken the night before.

The 24-year-old suffered serious injuries after falling 40ft from a hotel balcony at the resort of Faliraki.

After a bungled examination he was sent to an orthopaedic ward, without a doctor on duty.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS: 2000 Mr Rochester dies at Andreas Papandreou Hospital 2002 Three doctors convicted of manslaughter 2005 Manslaughter convictions overturned 2006 Greece's High Court rules the acquittals unsafe 2007 Mr Rochester's family win the right to privately prosecute 2008 Stergios Pavlidis re-convicted of manslaughter

Left unattended, he died overnight from internal bleeding.

Seven-and-a-half years later, his mother and stepfather have reached the end of an expensive and exhausting legal battle.

Their private prosecution saw junior doctor Stergios Pavlidis convicted of manslaughter by neglect.

But it followed a string of court cases in which Pavlidis and two other doctors were found guilty, then acquitted, of killing Mr Rochester.

In pursuing justice for their son, 50-year-old Pam and her husband George, 48, have spent £30,000 flying to and from Greece, paying translators and funding their legal team.

The workload caused Mr Cummings' painting and decorating business to fold and the couple have been forced to survive on loans and charity.

Pam and George Cummings raised almost £10,000 to pay for the case

"We've been living a bare existence by robbing Peter to pay Paul," said Mr Cummings. "We've had to sacrifice any luxuries or any decent quality of life.

"It's been a massive chunk of our lives, seven-and-a-half years of total hell.

"But I swore an oath at Christopher's graveside that we would never stop fighting for justice, and we never did."

The cost of that fight has largely been met by the community of Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

The family first staged a fundraiser in their home town to pay to fly Mr Rochester's body back to the UK.

But what began as a one-off event soon became the lifeblood of their campaign.

Later, they held bungee jumps, car boot sales and street collections. Mr Cummings even dressed as a Roman Legionnaire to walk the length of Hadrian's Wall with his daughter.

There has also been support for the family from the local MP, Kevan Jones.

The result, proclaims Mr Cummings, is a victory for the North East.

Mr Cummings walked Hadrian's Wall dressed as a Roman soldier

"It was always on our conscience, wondering how long these people would keep helping us. But the town has taken Chris to heart.

"He was a North East lad born and raised, and the people of the North East, and especially Chester-le-Street, gave us the opportunity to carry on.

"They wanted justice for one of their own and through their help and support, that's what they got."

The family are now seeking £150,000 damages from Dr Pavlidis and the hospital.

Mr Cummings hopes to use the money to set up a charity for families who find themselves facing expensive legal battles in foreign countries.

"We cannot give all those people their pound coins back, but when the time comes they will know their money has gone to help other people.

"It's been an absolute nightmare, impossible to explain to anyone who hasn't lived through it, but hopefully no-one else will have to.

"People keep saying 'write a book'. That might be something for the future, but for now it's tools down and time to concentrate on getting our lives back to how they were before Chris died."