US silicone death: Briton Donna Francis loses extradition appeal

Kelly Mayhew died in 2015 after a botched operation

A woman accused of killing a patient who had silicone injections in her buttocks will be extradited to the US after losing a High Court challenge.

Kelly Mayhew, 34, died in 2015 after having cosmetic surgery injections in the basement of a house in New York.

Donna Francis, in her 30s, of Loughton, Essex, contested her extradition to the US, which was ordered by the Home Secretary in December.

But High Court judges rejected her case and she will be tried in the US.

At a hearing in London in June, Ms Francis' lawyers argued that separating her from her young child would have a "devastating effect".

'Negligent homicide'

They also said she should not be extradited unless the US guaranteed that, if convicted, she could return to the UK to serve her sentence - arguing that detention in a US jail would amount to a breach of her human rights.

But her challenge was rejected by two senior judges.

The Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, sitting with Mr Justice William Davis, said there was "no difficulty in accepting" Francis has a bond with her daughter, but there was no evidence that separating them would have a "severe effect".

Lord Burnett said: "The child will remain in the care of close family members and contact with her mother will be possible remotely, whether or not visits are arranged."

Francis is charged with criminally negligent homicide and unauthorised practice of a profession.

Outlining the background to the case, Lord Burnett said the case against Francis, a former hairdresser who has no medical training, is that she twice carried out the cosmetic procedure on Ms Mayhew.

On the second occasion, in May 2015, Ms Mayhew suffered a seizure and was later pronounced dead in hospital.