Chaos erupts in court as parents escorted from room after investigation into schoolgirl's death finds 'natural causes'

Police were called in after the family of a 12-year-old girl reacted angrily to a coroner's ruling that there was 'insufficient evidence' to say that a delay by hospital staff in carrying out a head scan contributed to her death.

Described by loved ones as a 'beautiful girl who would light up a whole room', Victoria Olabode, from Rochdale, died at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital on July 15, 2019, after suffering a stroke. Victoria, who had Sickle Cell Disease, was transferred there from North Manchester General Hospital 13 days earlier.

On July 5, three days after her admission, she suddenly developed a 'severe' headache and began vomiting. She was treated for her pain but her mother had 'persistently' asked for a CT scan to be carried out. Yet this was not done until July 8, when Victoria suffered a 'prolonged seizure.'

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She suffered a second seizure later that day and was afterwards admitted to the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit. Radiology confirmed she had suffered an ischaemic brain injury. She was deemed to fulfill the criteria for brain stem death on July 12 and on July 15 her ventilation was withdrawn leading to her death.

An inquest into her death heard six days of evidence in December last year and February this year. Giving his conclusion this morning (Wednesday, April 10), Area Coroner Zak Golombeck said he found it was a 'failure' that a CT or MRI scan was not carried out on July 5 or 6 'when it was clear that Victoria was suffering serious neurological symptomatology.'

"Victoria was in sickle crisis, and it was imperative for a neurological event to be excluded by neurological examination and imaging," he said. "A CT scan was warranted, and whilst it was appropriate for the clinicians to address Victoria’s pain, her pain and a potential neurological event were not mutually exclusive."

However, he said that had a scan or scans been carried out at that time, it 'would not have conclusively confirmed subarachnoid blood', the medical term for a type of stroke caused by bleeding on the surface of the brain, as the scans carried out two days later didn't do so either. He described the protocol for the MRI scan that was carried out as 'sub-optimal' and said that 'this too was a failure in the care.'

However, he said: "On the balance of the evidence following my analysis, I find that there is insufficient evidence to cross the threshold beyond speculation that Victoria’s death would have been avoidable with earlier imaging on July 6, 2019."

Later adding: "On the balance of probabilities, there's insufficient evidence that she would have avoided the terminal event on July 8 which caused her death on July 15.

"Flowing from my findings, in my judgment, Victoria has died from a naturally occurring illness, which sadly reached its natural end on July, 15, 2019.

"Whilst I have found failures in her care, none of these failures more than minimally contributed to her death on the balance of probabilities."

As he said her death was the result of a 'naturally occurring illness', Victoria's mother Elizabeth Olabode stood up and began screaming 'no' and 'she never died of natural causes'.

Despite requests for her to calm down, she continued to shout with items including jugs of water being knocked from the desks in the courtroom. Her husband Victor then joined the loud protests which saw staff and others flood the room as proceedings were halted.

Everyone was asked to leave with several police officers coming into the courtroom a short time afterwards, with Mr and Mrs Olabode being escorted out. The hearing resumed around an hour later with Mr Olabode present, along with Victoria's twin brother Victor Jnr.

Mr Golombeck did not address the preceding events, simply saying: "As a matter of law, the factual circumstances of Victoria’s death fits squarely within the legal definition of ‘Natural Causes’, and therefore I will return this as a short-form conclusion.

"I am conscious that the totality of my findings will not be readily accepted by Victoria’s family, to whom I pay the utmost respect for their fight for justice over the past nearly five years.

"I have analysed the evidence thoroughly and carefully in what has been a less than straightforward case on the medical issues, to which I have been greatly assisted by all witnesses and advocates."

Following the hearing. Miss Toli Onon, Joint Group Chief Medical Officer for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We wish again to extend our condolences and deepest sympathies to Victoria’s family.

“The Trust has undertaken a thorough investigation to examine the circumstances following Victoria’s very sad death nearly five years ago, and we apologise again for where our care has fallen short of the high standards to which we aspire.

“The Trust is grateful to the Coroner for the care and diligence he has taken in relation to this Inquest, which concluded today with a conclusion of natural causes. We have taken steps to ensure the learning from Victoria’s death has been shared within the Trust.”