Surgery-ban medic guilty of killing three patients

Jayant Patel, 60, was ordered into police custody until he is sentenced tomorrow after a jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges against him.

The trial heard that Patel had been banned by US authorities from carrying out some of the procedures he undertook when he later moved to Australia. He had failed to inform his new employers about the restrictions.

Patel had pleaded not guilty to three counts of manslaughter and one count of causing grievous bodily harm to four patients while working as director of surgery between 2003 and 2005 at a state-run hospital in Queensland state. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The trial came more than 25 years after questions were first raised about Patel's competency, and marks a milestone for many former

patients who have waited years to face the man they accuse of irreparably damaging their lives.

At the trial, prosecutor Ross Martin described Patel as a "bad surgeon motivated by ego" who tried to restore his reputation by carrying out surgery he was not competent to perform.

Patel did not speak at the trial, but his defence lawyer said he was a hardworking doctor devoted to his patients, and that all of the patients named in the case had consented to the surgeries and knew the risks.