Manhunt for anaesthetist charged over death during Caesarean
AN INTERNATIONAL arrest warrant has been issued for an NHS doctor who is believed to have left the country after a teacher died following a botched caesarean.
Dr Nadeem Azeez, 52, is thought to be in Pakistan but was yesterday charged with manslaughter by gross negligence, along with fellow anaesthetist Dr Errol Cornish, 67.
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is also accused of corporate manslaughter – the first time a health trust has been charged with the offence since its introduction in 2008.
Frances Cappuccini died within hours of her second son’s birth after suffering major complications that resulted in the loss of half her blood.
At an earlier inquest hearing, the family’s lawyer said her death might have been avoided if doctors had not persuaded her to change her birth plan.
The 30-year- old – a primary school teacher – had intended to have an elective caesarean at Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
But she and her husband Tom, 35, reluctantly abandoned their plans after doctors said they should allow labour to progress naturally overnight.
Their son Giacomo was eventually born by emergency caesarean – but Mrs Cappuccini suffered massive bleeding and died soon afterwards on October 9, 2012.
Her husband was left to bring up the little boy – who has the middle name Frankie in memory of his mother – and the couple’s other son, Luca, five, by himself. The family’s lawyer Neil Sheldon told Mrs Cappuccini’s inquest that she was left struggling to breathe for 90 minutes without being given sufficient oxygen. He also questioned why the teacher did not receive a blood transfusion earlier and suggested there could be an issue with maternity ward staff overruling women’s wishes for their birth plans. The inquest was halted in February last year so evidence could be referred to prosecutors to allow them to consider bringing criminal charges.
Mr Sheldon said at the time: ‘The family has not entered into the process for any other reason than to have questions answered. They are not trying to have anyone convicted, but they do want to find out what happened and why.’ Neigh- bours said Dr Azeez then moved away in September after splitting up with his wife – who is also a doctor – and selling his house in Tunbridge Wells. He had attended school and completed his medical training in Lahore, Pakistan, before coming to Britain.
The father of two is also currently suspended from the General Medical Council’s register of doctors.
A spokesman for Kent Police said: ‘An international warrant has been issued for the arrest of Dr Azeez, who is believed to have left the country and returned to Pakistan.’
Dr Cornish, of Bromley in South London, is originally from South Africa where he trained at the University of Cape Town in the 1970s.
Mrs Cappuccini, who was affectionately called ‘ Mrs Coffee’ by her pupils, taught five and six- year- olds at Offham Primary School, near West Malling, also in Kent.
Her positive attitude has been praised by headteacher Phillip Hunter, who described her as a ‘bubbly and enthusiastic person’ and paid tribute to her as a ‘brilliant teacher’.
Lawyers for the family said yesterday that they did not want to comment on the decision to charge the two anaesthetists.
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust – which was criticised in 2007 after 90 patients died in an outbreak of superbug C difficile – said it could not make a statement for legal reasons.
The first hearing in the case will take place at Sevenoaks magistrates’ court on Friday next week.
‘International arrest warrent’