How did the breast cancer butcher get £216,000 legal aid?
Investigation into mutilating surgeon with a string of homes
A ROGUE breast cancer surgeon received £216,000 in legal aid – despite building an extensive property empire in the UK and owning a holiday home in Florida.
An investigation has been launched into how ‘sadistic’ Ian Paterson, who mutilated scores of patients on the operating table, came to be awarded so much public money.
It dwarfed the amount given in compensation to most of Paterson’s victims, who suffered horrendous injuries as a result of his needless or botched surgery. The Legal Aid Agency wants to establish if he ‘deliberately moved assets to qualify for legal aid’.
A Freedom of Information request from the Daily Mail revealed Paterson, now 60, received £216,542.25 for his defence costs at his trial last year and a subsequent failed appeal.
This comprised £106,815.78 for his solicitor and £109,726.47 for his barrister. He is currently serving a 20-year sentence. Ann Butler, chairman of the Breast Cancer Support Group which was set up for his victims, said: ‘I don’t think he should have had legal aid. It is a disgusting amount of money when you consider the five-figure compensation payouts awarded to many of his victims.
‘It makes me feel very angry and very disappointed with the British justice system.’
Paterson, formerly of Altrincham, near Manchester, practised at private and NHS hospitals and exaggerated or invented cancer risks, claiming payments for more expensive procedures in some cases.
He was convicted in April last year at Nottingham Crown Court of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding between 1997 and 2011. One victim looked like she had been ‘ in a car crash’ after an ‘ entirely unnecessary’ mastectomy.
The father- of-three’s statefunded defence costs come despite a Government pledge to crack down on legal aid. In the aftermath of Paterson’s convictions, details emerged about his lavish property portfolio and love of expensive paintings and fine wine – funded by his NHS and private work.
In 2015, the Scottish-born surgeon bought a three-bedroom condominium in Florida – which he still co-owns.
According to Manatee County property records, Paterson owns the house with his twin daughters. It’s estimated to be worth £107,000 ($138,000).
But the US property is nothing compared with his former UK family home in Edgbaston, Birmingham. The Grade II-listed Georgian mansion was sold in July 2013 for £1.25million.
It boasts eight bedrooms, four reception rooms, a wine cellar and a coach house converted into a gym. The house was conveniently located for the £13,000a-year King Edward’s School where his son, now a 32-year-old barrister, was privately educated and the King Edward VI High School for Girls, where his daughters, now 30, studied.
Paterson had also invested in a number of buy-to-let properties in Manchester and Cardiff, police revealed last year.
He and wife Louise, a physiotherapist, divorced shortly before his trial. She declined to answer questions about his legal aid bill earlier this week.
But last night sources with knowledge of the case disclosed that the Legal Aid Agency has launched a probe into how Paterson was awarded so much public money to defend himself. A Legal Aid Agency spokesman said: ‘All applications for legal aid are subject to strict assessments of an individual’s financial circumstances, including with credit check agencies and HM Land Registry.
‘Anyone found to have deliberately moved assets to qualify for legal aid will be ordered to pay back the money granted.’
It has also emerged that detectives in West Midlands Police are investigating fresh criminal allegations against Paterson and are liaising closely with the Crown Prosecution Service, though the nature of these allegations has not been made clear.
A year ago it was announced that his victims will share £37million compensation.
The money was to be paid to 750 patients operated on at private hospitals run by Spire Healthcare on top of £17.4million offered to 277 NHS patients, it was revealed.
Frances Perks, one of his victims, said in an impact statement at the time of the trial that her mental and physical scars were ‘constant reminders’ of the operations she did not need.
She added: ‘I will never have closure. What that man did will haunt me for the rest of my life. It’s more than horrendous. It’s been awful. Being told one thing for so many years, it really messes with your head.’
Paterson’s barrister Nick Johnson QC could not be reached for comment. A colleague said he was on holiday.