Robbie Powell death: report redactions uncovered by 'Wales This Week'

Parts of an independent report into the death of a child, which were withheld by First Minister Carwyn Jones, have been uncovered by a Wales This Week investigation.

Mr Jones made 18 redactions to the report, which was meant to expose the truth about the death of ten-year-old Robbie Powell, from Ystradgynlais.

A leading QC and medical negligence expert has branded some of the redactions 'absolutely astonishing', but Carwyn Jones said today that the report does give a 'full picture' of what happened.

Robbie died in April 1990 from Addison’s Disease, a rare but treatable condition.

In the fortnight before he died he was seen by five different doctors.

After many botched investigations in the case, Carwyn Jones set up an independent inquiry to investigate the care Robbie received and what lessons could be learnt from it.

Barrister Nicholas David Jones completed his inquiry in February 2012 and in July Carwyn Jones presented it to the National Assembly.

'What we see is a catalogue of errors, a catalogue of bad luck, at times, but above all, a catalogue of neglect,' he stated.

Carwyn Jones acknowledged that a 'small' number of redactions had been made to the report but that his approach had been that it 'should be as open as possible.'

However, Wales This Week will tonight reveal that the redactions included the inquest verdict that Robbie’s 'death was by natural causes and neglect contributed to the cause of death.'

Dr Michael Powers QC, a barrister and doctor, who has worked with Robbie Powell’s family for more than 20 years, said: 'There can be no possible reason for the redaction of that factual account from the inquiry.'

Carwyn Jones refused to comment on individual redactions but told Wales This Week: 'What I wanted was to get the full picture and I don’t think anybody reading the report would think that it was anything other than a damning indictment of what happened.'

'Wales This Week: A Catalogue of Failures' is now available to watch online here: