£6m for victim of surgeon who ‘played God’

A HIGH-FLYING businesswoman was yesterday awarded more than £6m in damages against a plastic surgeon from Yorkshire who she said decided to “play God” with her life.

Penny Johnson, 49, claimed that Le Roux Fourie carried out experimental surgery during a facelift at the privately run Methley Park Hospital, near Leeds, in August 2003 which caused nerve damage to the right side of her face and led to her financial and IT consultancy business going into administration.

At a trial at London’s High Court in February, she asked Mr Justice Owen to award her a proportion of the £54m which she says was her potential loss, as a 50 per cent shareholder, when Bishop Cavanagh Ltd failed in 2009.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In a ruling yesterday, Mr Justice Owen awarded her £6,190,884.

He said that Mrs Johnson, of Godstone, Surrey, was formerly a confident, happy and outstandingly successful woman with a full and rewarding family and social life.

But the negligent surgery had had serious consequences both physical and psychological and resulted in a disorder with anxiety and depression as she tried to come to terms with what had happened.

He said when Mrs Johnson went to see Mr Fourie she only wanted minor plastic surgery to her nose and dark circles under her eyes but he proposed a more major facelift, with further surgery to her forehead and eyes.

The result left her with a permanent facial twitch.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Justice Owen said the impact on her life had been “devastating”. He told the court: “She was formerly a confident, happy and outstandingly successful woman with a full and rewarding family and social life”.

It was clear that the injuries from the facelift and from the replacement of pre-existing breast implants, which was carried out at the same time, imposed very considerable stress upon her relationship with her husband Peter.

“Their marriage has survived; but the claimant said in evidence that she is no longer a wife to her husband. He says that she is now a completely different person.

“They no longer go out together as they used regularly to do, and have become detached from the close-knit group of friends whose company they used to enjoy.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He awarded a total of £80,000 damages for the facial disfigurement, the asymmetry and pain caused by the breast surgery and the psychological consequences of the injuries, and more than £6m for past and future loss of earnings.

Assessing Mrs Johnson’s claim for loss of earnings, the judge said it was clear she had persuaded herself that its prospects were far better than could realistically be justified.

“She has understandably become preoccupied by what might have been, which has affected her judgment as to what could and would in reality have been achieved,” he said.

Mrs Johnson continued to have the potential to deploy her outstanding abilities in business but account had to be taken of the uncertain prognosis for her psychiatric symptoms.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Unless she makes a full recovery, and unless she recovers some vestige of her former self confidence, the prospect of engagement in business activities that involve face to face contact with others is limited.”

During the hearing, Mrs Johnson had told the court: “My face is constantly contracting, I don’t sleep and I have a permanent buzzing around my eye which can be so intense that I can’t think about anything.”

Alain Choo Choy QC, for Mr Fourie, who admitted negligence but put the potential business loss at only £9m, did not accept that the surgery was experimental.

He said the claim that Mrs Johnson’s company lost out on a series of lucrative contracts was unrealistic and deluded.

It was accepted that her injuries restricted her ability to work but the business had failed for unrelated commercial and economic reasons.

Related topics: