Rogue surgeon who carried out needless breast operations has sentence increased to 20 years

A surgeon who carried out unnecessary breast operations has had his 15-year jail sentence increased to 20 years.

Ian Paterson, who left victims scarred and disfigured, had his jail sentence increased by Court of Appeal judges.

Paterson, 59, was handed the original prison term in May following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

But Lady Justice Hallett, Mrs Justice Carr and Mr Justice Goss, sitting in London, declared that the original jail term imposed in May was “unduly lenient”.

Their ruling came after the sentence was referred to the court for review by Solicitor General Robert Buckland.

Paterson, 59, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, watched proceedings via video-link from prison.

He was convicted by a jury of offences of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding against 10 patients.

Sentencing him to a total of 15 years, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker told Paterson: “You deliberately played upon their worst fears, either by inventing or deliberately exaggerating the risk that they would develop cancer, and thereby gained their trust and confidence to consent to the surgical procedures which you carried out upon them.’’

The judge said Paterson was ”charming and charismatic” and used those characteristics to manipulate patients.

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His trial heard evidence from nine women and one man who were treated in the private sector at Little Aston and Parkway hospitals in the West Midlands between 1997 and 2011.

Victims told the court of how Paterson’s crimes had left them in constant pain and struggling to trust medical professionals.

The judge said that because of his actions, most of his victims were suffering from ”prolonged psychological conditions” including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

In 2012, more than 700 patients of Paterson, who also worked in the NHS, were recalled after concerns about unnecessary or incomplete operations.

Following his trial, Paterson was struck off from the medical profession.

A tribunal ruled that his actions were “serious” and “intentionally harmful” over a period of 14 years.

His failure to acknowledge any of his faults showed a lack of insight that indicated he still posed a serious risk to patients, the medical practitioners tribunal also concluded.