Brian Oxman, a lawyer for Joe Jackson – the estranged father of late pop great Michael Jackson – announced yesterday that Joe Jackson will be filing a wrongful death lawsuit against his son’s physician, Dr Conrad Murray.

The lawsuit is a civil suit, which can run alongside the criminal case already filed by Los Angeles prosecutors against the doctor. According to Oxman, the amount of Propofol (the anaesthetic administered which was responsible for Jackson’s cardiac arrest) given to the “Thriller” star was totally reckless.

"The continuous administration of drugs over six weeks – [Murray] gave him Propofol every night – that is Russian roulette, that is loading six bullets into a gun with only six chambers," Oxman told reporters. The doctor had been hired by British concert promoters AEG Live, who were keen to see the star in good health in the lead-up to his residency at London’s Wembley Arena.

The purpose of a civil suit is to win monies from the defendant. The 50-year-old singer famously left his father out of his will, and Oxman could not confirm whether or not  Michael Jackson’s mother, brothers or sisters will join in on the lawsuit. Oxman notified Murray’s lawyer, Ed Cher off, of his plans in order to meet a Californian law, which insists any lawsuit must be filed within one year of the person’s death, and allow 90 days for the defendant to respond. Jackson died on Thursday 25  June, 2009.