Dentists guilty of misconduct

Two married dentists were found guilty of serious professional misconduct yesterday after a boy, 10, died while recovering from a general anaesthetic. Paul Beckett suffered heart and lung failure after having five teeth pulled on 13 July last year.

The General Dental Council heard the anaesthetic machine at the surgery of David and Carole Palmer, in Mildenhall, Suffolk, had not been serviced for eight years. It decided not to strike off the couple, ordering them to take a course of instruction.