A COUPLE who have waited almost three years for an inquest into their son's death have been dealt a devastating fresh blow.

A vital piece of equipment in use when Craig Archer died in York Hospital in May 2001 is believed to have been "accidentally discarded", the solicitor for his family revealed today.

Stuart Hanley, of Langleys Solicitors, said he feared a report into Craig's death had been severely prejudiced by the apparent loss of the three-way tap, which was fitted into a tube to assist with feeding.

He has written to York Coroner Donald Coverdale and solicitors for York Hospitals NHS Trust to ask as a matter of urgency whether or not the tap is definitely missing, and if so, how it came to be discarded.

The Evening Press has reported on several occasions of the distress caused to Mr and Mrs Archer, of Clifton, and their daughter Tracey Cormack, by repeated delays in holding the inquest into the death of Craig, who had been admitted to hospital with colitis.

The hearing was originally due to go ahead in October 2002, but was then adjourned by the coroner to obtain an independent report into the equipment by the Medicines and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), to assist in establishing the cause of death.

A report from the agency stated that the three-way tap had not been included in a package of equipment sent to it by the coroner and was believed to have been "accidentally discarded".

He said the family was concerned that the issue would not be clarified in time for the reconvened inquest, now likely to take place on March 16.

It might turn out that the long wait for the report and inquest had not been worthwhile, but if the tap was now discovered, it might be necessary to send it to the agency for testing, which in turn was very likely to lead to another adjournment.

Craig's sister, Tracey, said today she was disgusted by the fresh development. "I was crying the other day. I keep thinking: where's it going to end? How are we going to know the truth about Craig's death if the equipment isn't found?"

Mr Coverdale said the item had not been among equipment recovered from the hospital by his pathologist. "It was never available to me."

He said the unavailability of the tap was a matter of concern to him, but he anticipated that such issues would be thrashed out at the inquest. He would be very reluctant for there to be any further inquest delay.

York Hospitals NHS Trust said: "This case is subject to a coroner's inquest. We have undertaken to give the coroner our full co-operation, but we are unable to comment until after the inquest has been concluded."

Updated: 10:52 Monday, March 08, 2004