Surgeon hit colleague in head – during row over BBC Laura’s smile!
A SURGEON punched another doctor in the head during a boozefuelled row over BBC political editor laura Kuenssberg’s face, a tribunal heard yesterday.
David Wilkinson struck colleague lawrence King and knocked off his spectacles as part of a ‘vigorous debate’ over the Scottish journalist’s ‘lop-sided smile’.
The surgeon, 58, allegedly became angry when Mr King suggested she wasn’t attractive enough to be on TV and would look better with a ‘bag over her head’. He hit his colleague up to three times, leaving him with a gash behind his ear and broken glasses, it is claimed.
Details of the row emerged at a hearing of the Medical practitioners Tribunal Service, in Manchester, where Mr Wilkinson is accused of misconduct. He admits punching Mr King but denies misconduct. The panel were told that Mr Wilkinson and Mr King had been on holiday in Bilbao, Spain, with several other colleagues, in June last year, and were in a restaurant when the debate over Miss Kuenssberg, who was referred to as LK during the hearing, began.
Michael Scarland told the hearing that the group had
‘Cut a couple of holes in the bag’
consumed around seven pints each, but Mr King denied he was drunk.
Mr Scarland said: ‘We had a long debate about Brexit and this led to a conversation about LK. Someone said she was quite pretty. lawrence said she would look better with a bag over her head, which annoyed David.
‘i thought lawrence was going to back-track when he said, “you can’t put a bag over her head” – but he then said, “you could cut a couple of holes in the bag so she could see”.
‘They were disrespectful comments. He was saying she wasn’t pretty enough to be on TV. David had gone round to him and said he was out of order. There was only one punch.’
Another colleague, gynaecologist Martin DeBono, said Mr King had earlier been winding up Mr Wilkinson, who is a specialist vascular surgeon and also postgraduate dean for Health Education England.
‘David has a significant role in education,’ he said. ‘Mr King was challenging a lot of his stances. it went beyond a good natured argument. Mr King was trying to aggravate him.
‘We were having a conversation about LK and it was very loud and vigorous. There was definitely only one punch.’
Mr Wilkinson apologised immediately and was embarrassed by his behaviour, the tribunal heard.
Mr King admitted saying Miss Kuenssberg – who grew up in glasgow – had a lopsided smile but couldn’t recall commenting she would look better with a bag on her head. He also denied trying to aggravate Mr Wilkinson.
He said: ‘He [Mr Wilkinson] looked angry, but… i just thought we were engaging in good-natured conversation.’
He added: ‘i remember a heavy blow to the back of my head. i then remember seeing my glasses in pieces on the floor.
‘Someone pointed out my head was bleeding from a gash behind my ear.’
Mr Wilkinson said his daughter worked as a journalist for iTV and he had taken Mr King’s comments too personally.
‘i thought what he said was crude and offensive,’ he said, adding that he ‘partly saw the remarks as comments on his own life and his daughter’.
The tribunal continues.