Jayant Patel, an India-born surgeon dubbed "Dr Death", has been found guilty of manslaughter
SYDNEY — An India-born surgeon once dubbed "Dr Death" was found guilty Tuesday of killing three Australian patients and permanently harming another, after a trial which heard evidence of botched and needless operations.
After about 50 hours of deliberations, a jury found Jayant Patel guilty of three counts of manslaughter committed during his time as director of surgery at Australia's Bundaberg Base Hospital between 2003 and 2005, reports said.
Patel, branded "Dr Death" by the media during initial investigations into his conduct at the north Australian hospital, was also found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to another patient, Australian Associated Press reported.
The doctor, who had pleaded not guilty to all charges, looked stonily at the floor as the jury announced its verdict. He will face a sentencing hearing on Thursday.
Patel's wife Kishoree, who has appeared in court each day with her husband, left the court in tears as former patients and their supporters cheered.
Patel, who was extradited from the United States to face the Supreme Court in Brisbane, had conducted dangerous, unnecessary and inappropriate operations on some of his patients, the court heard during the marathon 14-week trial.
The prosecution argued that James Phillips, 46, Gerry Kemps, 77, and Mervyn Morris, 75, would not have died except for the surgeries Patel performed on them, while Ian Vowles was left with permanent injuries after the surgeon removed his healthy bowel in October 2004.
Patel failed to disclose that he had been found grossly negligent in the United States prior to taking the job in Bundaberg, and had been banned from performing some surgeries without a second opinion, the jury heard.
He questioned his abilities after the third fatal surgery, according to the prosecution, who told the jury he was heard saying, "Maybe I shouldn't be doing these operations."
During the case, Patel was described by prosecutor Ross Martin as a "bad surgeon motivated by ego and suffering from lack of insight".
Summing up last week, Justice John Byrne told the jury that the crown's case was, in short, that patients had endured misdiagnosis, surgery they were unable to survive and the removal of healthy organs.
Patel's lawyers had attempted to argue that the surgeon was working to benefit his patients and had wanted to see them returned to good health. Every surgery had been done with the patient's consent, they said.
Defence lawyer Michael Byrne said much of the evidence was fuelled by "a great deal of second-guessing and use of hindsight".
The case, one of the longest in Queensland state history, is the result of years of investigations and legal proceedings into Patel's tenure at the Bundaberg hospital which began in early 2003.
In 2005, a local politician raised concerns in Queensland parliament after they were brought to him by a senior nurse working with Patel.
Patel later resigned and moved to the United States but a series of inquiries followed. Warrants were issued for Patel's arrest in November 2006 and extradition proceedings began in 2007. He arrived in Australia in mid-2008.
Former patient Doris Hillier Tuesday welcomed the verdict.
"To think it has finally come our way is just too good to be true," she told ABC television.
Asked what sentence Patel should receive, Hillier said: "Life, life, life, life. For what he has done to so many patients up here, he has ruined their lives."
Lawyers for Patel have indicated they will appeal the convictions.
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