Phil Coleman

Over the last year, Newsquest Cumbria Chief Reporter Phil Coleman has seen two long-running investigations come to fruition. The first was the final legal chapter in Coleman's expose of fake consultant psychiatrist Zholia Alemi, who worked in the NHS for 22 years, despite never having qualified as a doctor. Coleman's initial investigation sent shockwaves through the General Medical Council, exposing astonishing failures of scrutiny which allowed a fraudster to gain entry to the GMC register of approved doctors. During her fraudulent career, she treated hundreds of patients, (illegally sectioning many), and earned an estimated £1.3m. Coleman's expose triggered qualification checks on 3,117 doctors who came to the UK from Commonwealth countries as Alemi did. It also led to a criminal investigation and a criminal trial at Manchester Crown Court. It concluded in February, with Alemi convicted and jailed for seven years. The prosecution was a direct result of Coleman's expose.

Phil also exposed aggressive police conduct in rural Cumbria, conceived as a primarily online investigation because the primary evidence is body-worn police video footage. This in an expose of disturbingly aggressive police conduct, involving the repeated user of Tasers on a vulnerable suspect. It happened as officers attempted to detain a mentally ill west Cumbrian man. At the conclusion of this encounter, the young man - subjected to multiple tasering and verbal aggression - had suffered a fractured skull. He spent weeks in hospital, needed major surgery, and sustained a life-changing brain injury. What happened raised important questions about the appropriate use of Tasers by front-line police officers. The story was published thanks to Coleman's determined efforts over several months to persuade a judge that the police video which showed the aggression should be released. Despite police opposition, Judge Nicholas Barker accepted that the release of this video to the press was in deed in the public interest. What it showed is shocking. The verbal aggression and repeated taser use on the suspect, who was in the midst of a mental health crisis, was widely condemned - including by Amnesty UK, a retired police sergeant, and a former Cumbrian Professor of public health.

The final story in his entry was first published online for our daily News & Star title (see supporting material). It deals with another issue of immense public concern - the way in which hospitals deal with the risk from food allergy. Working with a patient whose mushroom allergy was clearly flagged up to staff at Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary, Coleman built up evidence that showed how this information was ignored, putting the woman's life at risk. She suffered a potentially fatal allergic reaction. Astonishingly, this serious medical incident was played down by the Care Quality Commission, whose report downplayed what happened and failed to establish the facts. Coleman's evidenced reporting, containing photos of the victim and the meal involved, led to an apology from the NHS trust involved and a promise to improve procedures.