In focus: Top optical stories of 2016

Honey Rose manslaughter conviction

In April, locum Honey Rose became the first optometrist to face criminal charges relating to medical negligence. The 34-year-old, who was working in the Ipswich branch of Boots Opticians, was charged with the manslaughter by gross negligence after Vincent Barker, aged eight, suffered a fatal build-up of fluid on the brain, five months after an eye exam with her in February 2012.

Her trial began in July. The jury heard there were ‘obvious abnormalities indicating swollen optic discs in both of Barker’s eyes, which the prosecution argued she should have picked up on during the examination. At the trial, Rose told the court she had conducted all the required tests during the eye examination. She had failed to look at the most recent retinal photographs or examine the back of Barker’s eyes, which prosecutors said would have showed the abnormality.