Former breast surgeon's open prison move cancelled

Ian Paterson was jailed for 20 years in 2017

A jailed former breast surgeon’s move to an open prison has been cancelled following a risk assessment, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed.

Disgraced medic Ian Paterson, who was jailed for 20 years in 2017, was due to transfer from a Category C prison to a Category D prison.

The move had previously sparked outrage among his victims and their families, with one describing it as a “kick in the guts”.

But a communication from the MoJ to one of Paterson’s victims, seen by the BBC, said his Category D status had been rescinded following a review.

Confirming the update, a Prison Service spokesperson said: “This move has been cancelled after a change in the prisoner’s risk assessment.”

A Category C prison is known as a training and resettlement prison, while a Category D prison has minimal security and allows eligible prisoners to spend most of their day on licence to carry out work, education or for other resettlement purposes.

The MoJ previously apologised to victims and families after they claimed the status change had not been communicated to them.

Paterson was convicted of 20 counts of wounding after carrying out unnecessary procedures, which have been linked to the deaths of more than 60 women.

He had worked at the Spire Parkway Hospital and Spire Little Aston Hospital in Birmingham between 1997 and 2011, as well as NHS hospitals run by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.

The ex-medic recently refused to take part in the inquest process into the deaths of 62 of his former patients, which were opened earlier this month.

A pre-inquest review heard he declined due to health reasons, lack of legal representation and a lack of facilities to prepare.

The inquests are expected to run for two years at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner’s Court.