Ronald Maddison - Sarin Test and Death

Sarin Test and Death

Maddison, from Consett, County Durham, died within 45 minutes of having twenty drops (200 mg) of sarin placed onto a cloth draped on his arm during an experiment at Porton Down. Five subjects entered a sealed gas chamber at 10:17 a.m. All were fitted with respirators. Within twenty minutes, Maddison began to complain that he did not feel well. Three minutes later, Maddison collapsed and began gasping for breath, at which point the scientists removed him from the chamber and took off his gas mask. They injected him with atropine after they witnessed an asthma-like attack and convulsions. Maddison also complained of going deaf. An ambulance took him to a local medical facility. The sarin's effects blocked the flow of air into Maddison's lungs, ultimately starving his brain and tissues of oxygen. On 16 May, at an inquest ordered by the British Home Office, his death was declared accidental.

Maddison's death, along with allegations that other British chemical-weapons test volunteers (who were used as subjects between 1939 and 1989) were not properly informed and may have been misled about the experiments and their risks, was the subject of a police investigation, Operation Antler, in 1999–2004.

Servicemen were offered about 15 shillings and a three-day leave pass for taking part in the experiments. Ronald had planned to use the money to purchase an engagement ring for his girlfriend, Mary Pyle. On 8 and 16 May 1953, an inquest was held in secret before the Wiltshire Coroner, Harold Dale, who returned a verdict of misadventure. The Ministry of Defence apparently paid Maddison's father £40 for funeral expenses.

A new inquest opened on 5 May 2004. On 15 November 2004, this inquest reached the conclusion that Ronald Maddison died because of unlawful acts.

On 25 May 2006, it was announced that the remaining relatives of Ronald Maddison would receive £100,000 in compensation from the Ministry of Defence.