My children won’t talk to me, sobs TV surgeon who left wife for younger lover
A TV SURGEON who allegedly punched and threatened to kill his daughter during a row over his ‘wild whore’ lover sobbed yesterday as he said he had been rejected by his children over the affair.
Professor Basil Ammori, 53, told a medical tribunal he had been ‘shut off ’ by his daughter and two sons when he left his GP wife for a single mother more than 20 years his junior.
The obesity expert, who appeared on Channel 4 show Embarrassing Bodies, claimed he sent gifts and texts to daughter Huda, 22, and sons Mohannad, 26, and Ahmed, 23, in the hope of repairing his relationship with them.
But the bitter divorce from his ex, Dr Almira Al-Abadi, 53, had come between them, he said. His children would send back abusive messages, accusing him of being an ‘ evil destructive person’ and tearing his family apart, the medic claimed.
Ammori and his daughter allegedly came to blows over claims that she and her brothers had posted details of his then girlfriend, Hayley Pritchard, 30 – whom he has since married – on an internet site, prompting men to contact her for sex.
During a confrontation, Ammori branded his ex-wife a ‘wild bitch’, while his daughter retaliated that Miss Pritchard, who was carrying his baby, was a ‘wild whore’.
Ammori allegedly punched his daughter and police were called, but took no further action against him. He was later reported to the General Medical Council.
Yesterday the surgeon, who specialises in weight loss at Salford Royal Hospital, broke down in tears when questioned about the fractured relationship with his family.
‘I have been shut off completely,’ he told a fitness to practise panel in Manchester. ‘My children just will not talk to me. I have tried so desperately to reach out to them.
‘I have sent them gifts for birthdays and other occasions. I get nothing in response, most of the time. When I do get a response it is always abusive in nature.’
Dr Al-Abadi told the Daily Mail Ammori had beaten her in front of the children but she always refused to press charges when police were called for fear of ‘bringing shame’ on the family.
She claimed he had two affairs during their marriage and even married Miss Pritchard while still technically married to herself.
But Iraqi-born Ammori, who had been married to his wife for 26 years before they split in February 2013, rejected her allegations.
He told the hearing she was ‘influ- encing’ the children against him and wanted to ruin his career and his life. He added: ‘I have never hit my ex-wife or any of our children.’
He admitted calling his former wife a ‘ wild bitch’ during the confrontation with his daughter in September 2014, but denied that he had attacked her.
‘I did not grab her. I did not hit her. I certainly did not punch her in the face repeatedly,’ he said.
Ammori – who married Miss Pritchard last year and lives in a £ 1million house in Bowden, Cheshire – denies any wrongdoing.
The hearing continues.