After a six-week trial at Southampton Crown Court, pharmacist Cathal Daly and three others have been found not guilty of the bribery charges brought against them following a six-and-a- half year investigation by the NHS Counter Fraud Authority.

On 4 March at the end of the prosecution case, and following a prosecution review of the available evidence and its disclosure to the defendants, the Crown offered no evidence in the case and all defendants were found not guilty of all charges by the jury.

The others who faced charges alongside Mr Daly were businessman Noel Staunton; Paul Jerram, formerly head of medicines management for Isle of Wight CCG; and Dr David Turner, a GP from Ventnor.

All four defendants had always maintained their innocence and denied the charges brought against them of bribery and corruption in promoting specific drug companies and their products to GPs.