A memorial has been unveiled at Lord Mayor’s Treloar’s College in Hampshire to honour boys who were infected with HIV and hepatitis during unethical medical research in the 1970s and 1980s.
During that period, boys with the blood clotting disorder haemophilia were given experimental blood products while attending the boarding school. Of the 122 pupils with haemophilia who attended between 1970 and 1987, only around 30 were still alive when the Infected Blood Public Inquiry published its main report in 2024.
Inquiry findings
The report highlighted how “very few” of the pupils with haemophilia who attended the school during the 1970s and 1980s “escaped being infected”. It concluded that the pupils, commonly referred to as the Treloar Boys, had been treated as “objects of research” and were experimented on without their knowledge by NHS clinicians who knew the dangers it posed.
The memorial, installed at the college, depicts two pupils embracing, one with a sling and another holding a cane. It bears the inscription: “Remembering 122 haemophiliac pupils of Treloar’s. Infected as children, victims of unethical research.” It also features a quote from Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the public inquiry: “This disaster was not an accident.”
Former pupils speak out
Adrian Goodyear, 55, said that when he first arrived at the school it felt like a “new dawn”. He described being infected with hepatitis and HIV while at school, recalling that in 1985 a doctor tearfully told him he had two to three years to live. “I’m the last remaining boy in that room,” he said. He added that the memorial was important to keep the scandal “in the public consciousness” and to honour those who died, noting that “one winter we lost five boys”.
Gary Webster, 61, who attended Treloar’s between 1975 and 1983, recalled being told as a child that he had HIV and had two years to live. He said: “For eight years we were experimented on, unethically treated, it wasn’t needed, it didn’t improve our lives. In fact, it hindered our lives and gave us viruses that have killed over 90 boys so far.” He said the memorial was important “to remember what happened and to make sure it never happens again”.
Comradeship and betrayal
Steve Nicholls, 59, who attended the school from 1976 to 1983, said: “My parents put their trust in the school and they were betrayed. We were subject of unethical research behind our parents’ backs, it’s as wrong then as it is today.” He described the statue as representing the comradeship and bonds formed at the college, adding: “We were often referred to as ‘blood brothers’ and we’ve stayed in contact throughout the years.” He also said: “We feel incredibly guilty for surviving it and getting through it when many of our friends didn’t.”
Richard Warwick, who attended between 1976 and 1982, called the memorial a “symbol of comradeship, friendship and support”.
Background and calls for action
Haemophilia is an inherited disorder where the blood does not clot properly, usually due to a shortage of the protein factor VIII. In the 1970s, a new treatment called factor concentrate was developed from donated human blood plasma. The inquiry concluded that children at Treloar’s were treated with multiple commercial concentrates known to carry higher risks of infection, and that staff favoured the “advancement of research” above the best interests of the children.
The report found that from 1977, medical research was carried out at Treloar’s “to an extent which appears unparalleled elsewhere”. Sir Brian Langstaff’s report found there is “no doubt” that healthcare professionals at Treloar’s were aware of the risks of virus transmission through blood and blood products. He said: “It is important that we keep a spotlight on the lessons of the inquiry and never forget the human tragedies at the heart of this scandal which has left long scars, not only in this Hampshire community but across the UK.”
Des Collins, senior partner of Collins Solicitors, said the treatment was negligent and amounted to “a betrayal of the trust the parents placed in the school”. Rachel Halford, chief executive of the Hepatitis C Trust, urged that police reports be dealt with “thoroughly and urgently” and called on the Government to reconsider the £60,000 compensation sum for the unethical research.
