Revealed: UK government was warned of infected blood risks in 1970s

Documents show officials were told blood plasma harvested from US convicts was contaminated with viruses

• Read more: the true story of the UK infected blood scandal

A commercial blood product at the centre of the biggest treatment scandal in the history of the NHS was approved for use after government officials were told convicts were among the paid donors and virus contamination “should be assumed”,corporate filings reveal.

The product, given to ­haemophiliacs to enable their blood to clot, was injected into thousands of patients in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s, ­including young children, who were infected with Aids and hepatitis C.