Our son was used in secret trials because he was cheaper to test on than chimpanzees: Parents of Colin Smith, seven, who died after being infected with HIV relive their heartbreak ahead of report into contaminated blood scandal

Colin Smith, 7, died of AIDS in 1990 after infection from contaminated bloodHis parents Jan and Colin Snr say he was used by doctors in 'secret tests'

A seven-year-old boy who died after being infected with HIV in the contaminated blood scandal was used in 'secret trials' because he was 'cheaper than chimpanzees' to test on, his parents have claimed.

Ahead of the release of a report into the scandal on Monday, Jan and Colin Smith told of their heartbreak after their son, also named Colin died in January 1990 after being infected with AIDS and Hepatitis C with contaminated blood at the age of two.

Sir Brian Langstaff will release his report into the scandal on Monday following four years gather evidence in the Infected Blood Inquiry between 2019 and 2023.

Campaigners including Mr and Mrs Smith have tirelessly worked for decades to get justice for the victims of the infected blood scandal and that's what they hope will happen after the report's release next week.

Mr Smith wants those responsible for the death of his son and other victims face criminal charges such as manslaughter, so that justice is served 'properly not hypothetically', he told Sky News.

Contaminated blood scandal victim Colin Smith (pictured aged six in 1988) died aged seven in 1990 after contracting HIV from a dose of blood clotting protein Factor VIII

Ahead of the release of a report into the scandal on Monday, Jan and Colin Smith (pictured) told of their heartbreak of their son's death

He said he still struggles to 'get to grips' with the thoughts that 'I gave my son over to his killers'.

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Colin Jnr was born with haemophilia, a rare condition that affects the blood's ability to clot, which is treated with a substance called Factor VIII.

The Factor VIII that was given to the young boy was made using the blood from the likes of prisoners, drug addicts and sex workers in America.

Mr and Mrs Smith told Sky News that they believe their son - who weighed just 13 pounds when he died - was being used by doctors in 'secret trials', leading to his ultimately fatal infection with HIV.

Colin was treated in the 1980s by top haemophilia specialist Arthur Bloom, who himself died in 1992.

But documents released to the inquiry show that that Bloom's research had huge risks that had never been explained to Colin's parents.

The first time he went to hospital the young boy had never been treated for his haemophilia, a document shown the inquiry was shown. This made him useful to researchers as they could study how he reacted to new treatments.

Mr Smith said that his son was 'just unlucky enough to be born at the right time', and be a newly diagnosed and untreated haemophiliac.

He told Sky News his son was exactly what doctors wanted because, 'as documentation states they are cheaper than chimpanzees'. The father said that while you can only 'treat a chimp once' children can be followed throughout their lives.

Mr and Mrs Smith told Sky News that they believe their son - who weighed just 13 pounds when he died - was being used by doctors in 'secret trials', leading to his infection with HIV

Mr and Mrs Smith go through their suitcase of memories of their son Colin

Colin Jnr was born with haemophilia, a rare condition that affects the blood's ability to clot, which is treated with a substance called Factor VIII

The first time Colin Jnr went to hospital the young boy had never been treated for his haemophilia, a document shown the inquiry was shown

The inquiry also saw a letter that Bloom had written to a colleague after he saw Colin in hospital, where the doctor said he had just given the boy Factor VIII and even acknowledged the risk that could get contract Hepatitis, even though he had been given some made in Britain.

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'This is just something haemophiliacs have to accept,' the letter said.

Bloom also wrote to his colleagues on June 24 1983 where he said that the Factor VIII carried a risk of AIDS and that one possible case relating to it had been reported.

Mr Smith asked how it could be justified that Colin was infected, despite being born in 1982, when this had been occurring since the 1970s.

Mrs Smith said she had complete faith at the time that the doctors were treating Colin Jnr completely in his best interests, and that she never had concerns about their intentions.

Mr and Mrs Smith showed Sky News a suitcase containing memories of Colin, including the blanket he was wrapped in when he died, which 'still smells of him'. Also in the case were his favourite toys and his artwork.