There will be no second inquest into the death of five-year-old Mason Jones from Deri, who died after eating E.coli-infected meat in school.
A High court Judge ruled it is to late to open a second inquest into his death in 2005, despite prosecutors admitting manslaughter charges should have been brought against butcher William John Tudor.
Tudor, from Cowbridge, was jailed for a year in 2007 after admitting six charges relating to food safety, including supplying contaminated meat.
Mason Jones was one of around 160 people who fell ill during the E.coli outbreak that came from contaminated meat supplied by Tudor’s Bridgend butchers shop.
Mason’s family called for a second inquest after a narrative verdict was reached by coroner David Bowen in 2010.
They took their case to Cardiff Civil Justice Centre last month.
But on Thursday, November 5, Lord Justice Elias ruled there was “no error” in law and that the coroner at the time had been entitled not to reach an unlawful killing conclusion.
The judge said he sympathised with Mason’s family for their loss but said reopening the inquest would not be in the interest of justice.
Speaking after the ruling, Mason’s mother Sharon Jeffreys said she would continue to fight for her son and would pursue action against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
She told BBC Wales: “I don’t think our son will ever have any justice. I think the justice system has firmly closed that door for us.
“The avenue we’re looking at now, what we will speak to our solicitors about, is with regards to what action we can take against the Crown Prosecution Service, because we believe this is a miscarriage of justice.”
The hearing was told that the CPS admitted they were “wrong” not to press manslaughter charges against Tudor.
At the time, the CPS decided there was not enough evidence to prosecute him for manslaughter.
In 2013, Mason’s parents met with Keir Starmer QC, who was then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP),
It was agreed the case would be reopened and barrister Mark Heywood QC was asked to prepare a report.
Mr Heywood said he was “firmly” of the view that there was enough evidence that Tudor knew that E.coli strain 0157 could kill.
Alison Saunders, current DPP of the CPS, later apologised to Mason’s family and said there was enough evidence of gross negligent manslaughter to go before a jury.
However, Miss Saunders ruled it was “too late” to mount a manslaughter prosecution against Tudor.
Mason’s parents then asked the High Court to order the inquest into Mason’s death to be reopened.