A CARNFORTH mother this week forgave the doctor who prescribed a fatal dose of methadone to her teenage son - but warned: "I hope you've learned your lesson."

And Gillian Edmondson also added that the medical profession also needed to learn from 16-year-old Jamie's death and stop dishing out the heroin substitute over the phone "as if it was cough medicine.

Dr Francis Apaloo prescribed methadone to Jamie while he was at the Preston New Road Young Offenders' Home, Blackburn, in March 1997.

On Tuesday, Dr Apaloo was restored to the medical register -- at the end of a three-month suspension imposed after he was found guilty of professional misconduct by the General Medical Council.

Before yesterday's decision he vowed never to treat people with drug problems in the future because he recognised his lack of experience.

He said that, as the case against him had continued, he had found himself ashamed about his lack of knowledge on the subject.

He said: "I do not intend to treat them because I do not have the expertise."

Dr Apaloo, of Wyfordby Avenue, Beardwood, Blackburn, will be free to start practising at the Montague Health Centre in Oakenhurst Road, Blackburn, from Friday.

The case has prompted improvements in the help and training given to doctors who deal with drug addicts.

Speaking from her home in Carnforth, Mrs Edmondson, said: "I think it is only right that he is allowed to carry on his career and I can appreciate him feeling the way he does.

"I sat through the original GMC case and I appreciate he is a sensible man who genuinely made a mistake and now understands that he shouldn't have been dealing with cases like Jamie's.

"I have forgiven him and have no ill-feeling towards him now. At first, I hated him, I really hated him. I felt his actions had led to my son's death. I wanted to kill him but after the GMC cases I realised how easy it was for this sort of thing to happen."

She added: "I hope the whole medical profession takes note of what happened. Anyone who deals with people who apparently need methadone should be properly trained. My son wasn't on heroin, he was playing up. Had the staff at the home been trained, they would have known that too.

"Methadone can kill. It isn't cough mixture and shouldn't be given out as though it is."

She added: "It is time for us as a family to move on. Dr Apaloo seems to be a competent doctor who can do his job. My son just drew the short straw because, like many doctors, Dr Apaloo was doing a job he wasn't trained for.

"The police, drugs action team and doctors locally have taken action to make sure methadone isn't handed out willy-nilly like it used to be.

"My son is a perfect example of someone faking for treatment and the precautions not being in place to spot that. He had died as a result."

During yesterday's hearing, counsel for the GMC Rosalind Foster, described how Dr Apaloo had been acting as the GP for young offenders at the Preston New Road home close to his practice.

Jamie was found dead on Saturday, March 22, 1997, just hours after carers at the centre had phoned Dr Apaloo at his surgery to say the youngster appeared to be suffering from the pain of heroin withdrawal symptoms.

Dr Apaloo recommended the heroin substitute, methadone, to be administered by staff at the home. He never personally examined the teenager or interviewed him to get an accurate health record.

Following a police investigation, he was tried on a charge of manslaughter at Preston Crown Court but the case was thrown out after a police surgeon admitted that Doctor Apaloo would probably have given Jamie methadone even if he had seen him in person.

Doctors who gave evidence said that methadone can kill people who have not been taking heroin.

Miss Foster said at the GMC hearing that the incident was "one tragic error in an otherwise blemish-free career."

Dr Apaloo told the committee that since the tragedy he had undergone a postgraduate course in prescribing at the University of Liverpool and had in addition attended other courses. His suspension from the medical register will end on July 6.