Senior surgeon’s conviction for manslaughter is quashed

David Sellu, a senior colorectal surgeon who was jailed for gross negligence manslaughter after a patient died, has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal.1

Three judges ruled that the conviction was unsafe because the trial judge’s direction to the jury was inadequate, failing to help them identify when negligence was so serious as to be criminal.

The patient, 66 year old James Hughes, was recovering after a routine knee replacement on 5 February 2010 at the private Clementine Churchill Hospital in Harrow, north London, when he developed abdominal pains as a result of a perforated bowel.

Sellu, who operated at the hospital in addition to his role as an NHS surgeon, was called in on 11 February …