Dad’s death – jailed surgeon wins appeal
Conviction was ‘unsafe’
A SURGEON from Hillingdon who was jailed over the death of a patient at a hospital in Harrow has successfully appealed his conviction.
David Sellu, 69, was convicted in November 2013 of gross negligence manslaughter at the Old Bailey following the death of father-of-six James Hughes who fell ill after knee surgery.
Dr Sellu was given a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence following Mr Hughes’ death at Clementine Churchill Hospital in 2010.
However, on Tuesday November 15, Court of Appeal judges agreed to quash Dr Sellu’s conviction.
Mr Hughes, 66 and from Northern Ireland, had a planned left knee replacement in February 2010. While recovering he developed abdominal pain and was transferred to Dr Sellu’s care.
The retired builder suffered a perforated bowel and died on February 14.
Appeal judges heard that the prosecution case said Dr Sellu should have performed an operation to repair the perforated bowel at a much earlier time.
But a QC argued that the conviction of Dr Sellu, who served 15 months before being released in February 2015, was ‘unsafe’ on a number of grounds.
Sir Brian Leveson, who heard the case with Lord Justice Irwin and Mr Justice Globe, announced that the conviction should be quashed.
The prosecution was given 24 hours to apply for a retrial.