Plastic surgeon jailed for trying to kill colleague

Jonathan Peter Brooks was convicted of multiple offences after a trial in April

A plastic surgeon has been jailed for life for attempting to murder a colleague he wanted "out of the way" because he was a witness against him in disciplinary proceedings.

Jonathan Peter Brooks broke into Graeme Perks's home in Halam, Nottinghamshire, in the early hours of 14 January 2021, wearing camouflage gear and armed with a crowbar, cans of petrol, matches and a knife.

A trial in Loughborough heard Mr Perks had a "95% chance of dying" after being stabbed by Brooks.

Brooks, who was "voluntarily absent" from his trial because he was on hunger strike, was convicted of attempted murder in April and on Monday, was given a minimum term of 22 years.

During the sentencing hearing, Judge Edward Pepperall said Brooks's life had been "falling apart" in January 2021 - with the surgeon anticipating losing his job and house following the disciplinary action at work.

Addressing Brooks, who specialised in burns and plastics at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, he said: "You were fixated on your employment difficulties. Whatever the rights and wrongs of those difficulties, you blamed Graeme Perks."

He said Brooks's "simmering sense of grievance" towards Mr Perks developed and he subsequently went out prepared for a "murderous expedition".

Brooks cycled in the snow to Mr Perks's home before smashing conservatory doors and dousing the ground floor of the house with petrol, intending to set it on fire.

Mr Perks, a consultant plastic surgeon who had recently retired, was woken by the break-in and initially mistook the defendant for his son Henry, before Brooks stabbed him in the abdomen.

Judge Pepperall added: "You [Brooks] must have had substantial professional experience of treating those who have suffered appalling and painful burns, and yet you attempted to set a fire in the middle of the night intending to kill your former colleague and to endanger the lives of any other occupants as they lay sleeping in their beds.

"Further, you were a trained surgeon, and yet you plunged a knife into your colleague's body passing through his liver, his pancreas, his duodenum and his inferior vena cava with the same murderous intent."

The trial previously heard Mr Perks's injuries were "of the most serious type", and included a bleeding liver, injuries to the pancreas and bowel, and an "extremely life-threatening injury" to the back of the abdomen.

Mr Perks, who was 65 at the time, only survived because of "quick action and amazing surgical skill", the court had heard.

Judge Pepperall said he detected no remorse in Brooks but, rather "a fixed view that you were hounded out of your employment by what you describe as the 'medical mafia' and self-pity at the situation in which you now find yourself."

'No ill feeling'

Mr Perks's injuries meant he spent several months in hospital during a coronavirus lockdown, with pandemic restrictions making it an even more challenging time, his family said.

In victim impact statements read to the court, Mr Perks and his family spoke of the prolonged impact of the attack.

Mr Perks said he also had ongoing health issues, including chronic swelling in his legs, "prominent" varicose veins across his body and heart problems, leaving him requiring lifelong medication.

Mr Perks's recollection of the attack after he left intensive care was "limited" - which he described as "a plus" - but said his wife Beverley felt he was "more inhibited than before".

Mr Perks added that he had "no ill feeling, hatred or bitterness" towards his ex-colleague.

"It is just another interesting chapter in life and I wish his family well," he said.

He said it was "ironic" a surgeon who specialised in burns should "wish to immolate" his family.

Graeme Perks survived "because of quick action and amazing surgical skill", the court heard

Mr Perks added: "This has been a nightmare for my wife and son who must have wondered if I was going to survive.

"This has been beyond every struggle in our lives so far."

In her statement, Beverley Perks said: "All my life I have been very resilient, but this hideous experience has totally undermined and destroyed my confidence."

She said she continued to have night terrors and "persistent" intrusive thoughts, and had been left with an "irrational" fear of the smell of fuel or the sight of large knives.

Police were called to the Old Vicarage on the morning of 14 January 2021

It has taken years for Brooks to be brought to justice, after his case was littered with delays due to the 61-year-old repeatedly refusing to engage with proceedings, as well as trying to manipulate the court system.

On at least eight occasions, Brooks failed to turn up to hearings without explanation, and a new trial was listed nine times before it finally began in March.

Brooks sacked his legal representatives on multiple occasions before electing to represent himself, but he failed to turn up before the jury during the trial, in what the judge described as "highly unusual" circumstances.

Judge Pepperall previously told the court that Brooks had "used hunger strikes or the threat of some other self-harm to achieve some advantage".

Sam Shallow, deputy chief crown prosecutor in the East Midlands for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Brooks had done whatever he could to prevent court proceedings, and praised the Perks family for their bravery.

"I certainly haven't dealt with a case personally where a defendant has used so many devices in order to try to prevent a case coming to a conclusion," she said.

"I've never heard of a case where the delays have just been because of things that the defendant has done."

Sam Shallow praised the Perks family for their "resilience" as they waited for justice

With Brooks not only not dispensing with his legal teams but also refusing to appear before the jury at the trial, Ms Shallow said prosecutors had had to take extra steps to prove their case.

"In every single case, every single charge has to be proved by us, so we do that by providing all the evidence and all the materials to the defence and the court," she said.

"What doesn't happen in most cases is that we have to do all of that in front of the jury.

"Ordinarily, the prosecution and the defence will agree [on] the crucial trial issues, and so we're able to let the jury focus on those crucial issues and not tell them every single detail, some of which probably weren't that important in the case, but here that was different."

A camouflage suit was among a number of items found after the attack

Ms Shallow added: "Despite the physical and emotional trauma they have endured, they [the Perks family] have come to court to tell their story on two separate occasions.

"This has been a long process for them, but I hope that finally seeing these proceedings coming to a close will help them in their recovery from this ordeal."

Brooks, formerly of Landseer Road in Southwell, appeared via video-link from HMP Norwich after refusing to attend the court in person, having claimed he had a bedsore that meant he would be unable to sit for long periods.

The judge said he had been informed Brooks was physically fit to attend, and there was no reason he could not.

Throughout the hearing, Brooks moved around in his room, occasionally standing from his wheelchair.

He was sitting looking towards the camera as his sentence was handed down.

With time already spent in custody, Brooks will serve 17 years and 223 days in prison.