Ian Paterson: Breast surgeon jailed for unnecessary operations has sentence increased to 20 years

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A breast surgeon who was jailed for carrying out unnecessary operations has had his sentence increased from 15 to 20 years by the Court of Appeal.

Judges said the first sentence was unduly lenient and should be increased.

Ian Paterson, 59, left victims scarred and disfigured, according to prosecutors.

He watched the hearing via a videolink from prison as they argued the sentence should be increased to represent the seriousness of the crime.

The surgeon from Greater Manchester was first sentenced in May for 17 counts of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding of patients, but the sentence was reviewed this month in London.

Robert Buckland, the solicitor general who had referred the sentence to the court, said the surgeon had caused physical and psychological harm to patients.

Paterson’s trial heard evidence from nine women and one man who had been treated between 1997 and 2011 in the private Little Aston and Parkway hospitals in the West Midlands.

Lawyer Kashmir Uppal, of Access Legal, who represented Paterson’s clients for years told The Observer: ”I’m pleased the sentence has been increased.

“It’s still not enough to reflect the seriousness of his crimes and the impact on patients. But it recognises that 15 years was not enough.

“Unfortunately, Mr Paterson still showed no remorse.

“We are still working on civil cases and have been instructed by a number of patients.

“The full extent of his crimes will never be known because there are other patients who haven’t come forward.”

Victims were left in constant pain and had a lack of trust in medical professionals, they said.

Lady Justice Hallett told him his victims had been “left feeling violated and vulnerable”, and that his treatment of them was “brutal and sustained”.

She added that some of them had experienced long-term psychological effects.