West Midlands police are appealing for anyone who may know the infant to contact them

West Midlands police are appealing for anyone who may know the infant to contact them.Leading article, letter, page 15Lottery fever, page 21. Police investigating two deaths at a Nottinghamshire intensive care unit fear they may be linked to dozens of similar incidents, spread over more than a decade, in which equipment was apparently sabotaged. The police team of 20 officers has traced the career of a nurse in her 30s from the Nottinghamshire hospital to eight others in which she has worked. They have found 57 “incidents to patients” including other deaths.
The Nottinghamshire detectives have refused to say which hospitals’ records have been examined, although they have said all patients and relatives affected have been told The staff nurse was suspended on full pay in January. The police were called in after an 11-month internal investigation into allegations of tampering with vital equipment during a two-month period in which the two patients died at Bassetlaw District Hospital, Worksop.Families of the patients involved are expected to meet this week to set up an action group to discuss potential legal action and their need for counselling.

Joe Ashton, Labour MP for Bassetlaw, said Virginia Bottomley, the Secretary of State for Health, had refused to answer questions arising from the Bassetlaw inquiry.“If someone has walked into an intensive care unit and tampered with equipment, it is a national problem which Mrs Bottomley should address instead of saying it is a matter for individual trusts, all of which just clam up,” Mr Ashton said.Detective Superintendent Peter Coles, who is leading the inquiry into allegations of sabotage at Bassetlaw, yesterday confirmed the investigation had spread elsewhere. But he stressed no one had been questioned as a suspect, arrested or charged over the allegations.“In the natural course of their investigations police have visited several other hospitals in other parts of the country These inquiries are continuing,” Det Supt Coles said. Sources close to the inquiry confirmed yesterday that 16 “untoward incidents” affecting five patients at Bassetlaw, and 57 at other hospitals, had drawn the attention of investigating officers.Allegations of sabotage concern breathing apparatus and pumps used to deliver patients’ medication intravenously. The police, who have taken more than 700 statements, have consulted medical experts during the complex inquiry.Advice has also been sought from Det Supt Stuart Clifton, who led the Lincolnshire police investigation which led to the conviction of Beverly Allitt, a children’s nurse at Grantham and Kesteven District Hospital, for the murders of four patients and attacks on nine others. Bassetlaw Hospital is in the same health authority area as the hospital where Allitt, 25, attacked 13 children in 58 days early in 1991.

She was given 13 life sentences last year, and a series of recommendations on security and staff vetting followed an independent inquiry.The latest investigation is more complex because patients in intensive care are more seriously ill than Allitt’s victims. Mr Ashton was concerned that health authorities had not begun a systematic review of security.’The `enemy within’, page 3. The IRA last night admitted its members were responsible for the death of a postal worker in Newry, Co Down, earlier this month, but declared that it remained committed to the peace process. It blamed the killing on a failure in its chain of command, saying those involved had been acting on instructions but the IRA leadership had not sanctioned the operation.
The postal worker, Frank Kerr, 53, was fatally wounded by a shot fired as he struggled with raiders in the main postal sorting office in Newry.

Two men appeared in court last week charged with his murder.The incident led to concerns that the cessation of military operations announced by the IRA at the end of August was in doubt. It provoked angry reactions across the political spectrum, with many calls for all paramilitary groups to hand in their arms.Last night’s statement will provide some assurance that the ceasefire is not at immediate risk, though the incident still represents a considerable blow to the IRA’s reputation for internal discipline.The initial republican reactions to the incident were confused, with the IRA announcing it was launching an investigation. It first issued a statement asserting the cessation of military operations still held, but it did not at first confirm or deny that it had sanctioned the robbery attempt.Last night, having completed its investigation, it said: “Those carrying out the robbery were `acting on instructions’ but the so-called operation had not been sanctioned by the IRA leadership.” Responsibility for the incident lay with “an identified problem in the IRA chain of command” which, it said, had now been rectified. It added: “We have established that Frank Kerr was shot in the midst of an intense scuffle with one of our volunteers and we take this opportunity to offer sincere apologies to his family and friends.”The question remains of how such a fundamental misunderstanding of IRA orders could have been made by individuals in the organisation.

Since the ceasefire there have been IRA “punishment beatings” but no other use of arms, and Sinn Fein spokesmen have spelt out that the cessation should be taking as meaning an end to the use of weaponry. Martin McGuinness, for example, said after the robbery: “I take the IRA at their word I think complete means complete. That’s my opinion of the IRA statement.”The latest IRA statement now suggests that a figure in their organisation senior enough to give instructions had not grasped this point.Suspicions are bound to linger that not everyone in the ranks is entirely happy with the cessation, but the IRA affirmation that it remains committed to the peace process, together with the now clear understanding that armed robberies are not permissible, will come as a relief to most observers.In particular, there will be relief within the British and Irish governments, particularly since the former is due to open exploratory talks with Sinn Fein within the next few weeks. Sinn Fein has said Mr McGuinness will lead the republican team in those talks.After the robbery, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, called on the IRA to issue an outright condemnation of the incident.