Judge approves £37m for victims of surgeon

A HIGH Court judge has paid tribute to the “resilience” of hundreds of patients who suffered at the hands of breast surgeon Ian Paterson.

Mrs Justice Whipple, who approved a £37 million compensation plan for victims treated by him in private hospitals, said: “He was their doctor, their surgeon, and they trusted him. He betrayed that trust.

“The physical pain and emotional anguish they have suffered in consequence cannot be understated. I pay tribute to their resilience in the face of such adversity.”

She added: “The damages which the claimants will now receive from this settlement will not eradicate the wrong done to them.

“Nor, I suspect, can the claimants simply move on as if nothing had happened; the consequences of Mr Paterson’s mistreatment will remain with them for years into the future.

“But I hope that the money they will receive under this settlement will go some way towards making their lives easier. I wish them all the very best.”

Mrs Justice Whipple made her comments as she approved a settlement reached in a damages action brought on behalf of former private patients against a number of defendants, including Paterson, who carried out unnecessary breast operations, leaving victims scarred and disfigured.

Paterson, 59, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, who is now serving a 20-year sentence, was convicted by a jury at Nottingham Crown Court of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding against ten private patients.