FORMER Oxford Haemophilia Centre patients whose lives were shattered by the contaminated blood scandal are among those taking their battle to the High Court.

Up to 100 people treated at the centre in the Churchill Hospital in the 1970s and 80s now set to sue the Department for Health.

For more than 30 years, haemophiliacs who contracted HIV and hepatitis C from NHS-provided blood products have fought for justice, along with their families.

A total of 400 people are involved in the upcoming case.

Lead claimant Jason Evans, whose father Jonathan died aged 31 from HIV after being treated at Oxford and Coventry, said the legal order had been ‘a long time in the making’.

He said: “The surviving victims are in dire need of compensation.

“But ultimately the deaths of our fathers were recorded in history falsely. We stand to really embarrass the establishment and will put on record that almost 2,000 people were killed by the state.

“It will be a stain on this country.”

Victims are being represented by Collins Solicitors, which says it has ‘new evidence’ officials at the Department of Health acted negligently in its duty to patients.

Mr Evans said: “The ties to Oxford are endless. It was one of the main centres, but a lot of people would have also had the Factor VIII [blood product] they were making.”

Neil Weller, 46, of Southmoor near Abingdon, was a friend of Mr Evans’s father when they were patients in Oxford 24 years ago and is now among the litigants.

The former newsagent, who was himself infected with hepatitis C, told the Oxford Mail last month that the issue had been ‘shut away for many years’.

He added: “These people were murdered. If you knew you had a syringe of HIV and you injected it into someone you would go to prison.”

Dave Moore, 52, of High Wycombe, lost his father Kenneth to hepatitis C in 2000 after 25 years of Factor VIII treatment in Oxford.

He said: “You can’t turn back the clock. The damage has been done. But it heightens awareness of what was carried out, which is still in the shadows slightly.

“A full public inquiry would be the best outcome.”

Other victims of the scandal from Oxfordshire include David Leadbetter, who was infected with hepatitis C in the 1970s, and Janette Johnson, whose son Graham died aged 15 after contracting HIV from treatment in Oxford.

Ahead of the application at the High Court Des Collins, founder and senior partner at Collins Solicitors, said: “Everyone deserves justice, and it is my belief that the clearer picture we now have means victims of the scandal now stand a better chance than ever of finally obtaining that justice.”

The Department of Health would not comment on the case but said it had increased payouts to record levels since 2015, committing £125m in funding for support.

Spokesman Marc Masey added: “We have also published all the information we hold on blood safety from the period 1970 to 1995 because we want to be fully transparent.

"We would happily look at additional sources.”