Ian Paterson case: Mum 'looked like car crash victim'

Ian Paterson denies 20 counts of wounding with intent against nine women and one man

A mother looked like she had been "in a car crash" after a mastectomy, despite only having a series of benign growths, a court has heard.

Ian Paterson performed the procedure on Marian Moran in 2004 at Parkway Hospital, Solihull, after she had found a number of lumps in her left breast.

She told jurors that Paterson told her the growths were pre-cancerous. They turned out to be "little warts".

Mr Paterson denies 20 counts of wounding with intent.

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Mrs Moran told the court Mr Paterson suggested the growths should be removed, fearing they could develop into cancer.

She was aged 49 in 1998 when she first went to see her GP about a lump in her breast, with a mammogram proving inconclusive, the court heard.

'Too much to witness'

She said: "Whatever Mr Paterson said, I would have gone along with. In my opinion he was at the top of his profession."

Ian Paterson carried out operations at the Heart of England NHS Trust and at the Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull

Jurors at Nottingham Crown Court were read a statement from her husband of 35 years, Eamon Moran.

In the statement read by prosecutor Nicholas Barraclough, he said: "She looked like she had been involved in a car crash. I didn't let her parents see her, it would have been too much for them to witness."

Breast surgery expert Prof Philip Drew, a senior lecturer in general surgery at the University of Hull, looked at the clinical records of Mrs Moran.

Prosecutor Julian Christopher QC asked him: "Do these findings suggest an inevitable deterioration towards cancer?"

He replied: "Absolutely not."

Mr Paterson, of Castle Mill Lane, Ashley, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, was formerly employed by Heart of England NHS Trust and also practised at Spire Healthcare.

He has denied 20 counts of wounding with intent against nine women and one man relating to procedures he carried out between 1997 and 2011.

The trial has been adjourned until Tuesday.