BUTCHER SURGEON LEGAL AID OUTRAGE
Probe into wealthy Scots specialist’s £216k bill
A ROGUE Scottish surgeon received £216,000 in legal aid – despite having a huge property empire. ‘Sadistic’ breast cancer surgeon ian paterson owned a string of properties in the UK,
as well as a holiday home in Florida.
An investigation has been launched into how 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 his 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 that
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.
Glasgow-born Paterson is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of a string of unlawful wounding offences against ten patients at private hospitals in the West Midlands.
His legal aid bill was branded ‘disgusting’ by his victims last night.
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 that were awarded to many of his victims.
‘It makes me feel very angry and very disappointed with the British justice system.
‘If he has played the system, then there is a system there for him to play. I think he has been treated too softly.’
Paterson, formerly of Altrincham, near Manchester, practised at private
‘Looked like a car crash victim’ ‘It’s more than horrendous’
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 state-funded 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 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 is 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 £13,000-ayear King Edward’s School where his son, now a 32-yearold barrister, was privately educated – and also for the King Edward VI High School for Girls, where his daughters, now aged 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 any 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 disclosed.
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.
In August last year, Paterson had his sentence increased by five years.
His jail term was raised to 20 years after the original punishment for carrying out unnecessary breast cancer operations was ruled ‘unduly lenient’ by the Court of Appeal.
Announcing the higher jail term, Lady Justice Hallett said: ‘Both the harm and culpability here were exceptionally high.’