COLLEAGUES today paid tribute to the "professionalism" of a Blackburn doctor who was cleared of killing a teenager.

4Dr Francis Apaloo, 55, of Wyfordby Avenue, Blackburn, walked free from Preston Crown Court after a judge told jurors to find him not guilty of manslaughter.

Dr Apaloo, who is based at the Montague Health Centre, had been accused of causing the death of 16-year-old Jamie Edmondson by prescribing a fatal dose of methadone over the telephone.

After the case, the GP's solicitor Christopher Briggs said in a statement that Dr Apaloo, who had continued to work while he was on bail, was looking forward to returning to the surgery to look after his patients.

The doctor refused to comment further on his 18-month ordeal, although Jamie's family said they were upset with the outcome.

But David Noblett, secretary of the Local Medical Committee (LMC) in East Lancashire, said: "There is a feeling of great relief for Francis and his family.

"Francis is a great guy. He has represented the LMC for many years and he has been an active member.

"He is well respected and I am really sorry for what he has had to go through.

"There was no malice in what he did. He felt he was doing the right thing.

"Now he can get on with what he is good at -- being a GP. But I don't want to take anything away from the sadness of the case."

He said the case was a "poignant reminder" of the great pressures GPs faced.

"There is always the risk that something they do with the best intentions and good faith can go wrong.

"At the end of the day we are only human and we hope this case serves as a reminder to all health authorities that they have to provide a failsafe system for treating vulnerable people."

Nigel Robinson, chief officer of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Community Health Council (CHC), said: "I have always found Francis to be highly professional."

A spokeswoman for the East Lancashire Health Authority said: "As an independent contractor Dr Apaloo has a right to return to his practice if he so wishes and while he remains on the professional register.

"In the event of his decision to continue to practice in Blackburn, the health authority will, at local level, need to consider any professional issues."

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