Hossam Metwally: Doctor jailed for bogus exorcism rituals

Hossam Metwally recorded himself performing the so-called exorcism rituals on his drugged partner

A doctor who poisoned his partner in a series of bogus exorcism ceremonies has been jailed for 14 and a half years.

Hossam Metwally, 61, brought Kelly Wilson to the brink of death by injecting her with drugs during the sessions at their Grimsby home.

Sheffield Crown Court heard he convinced the 34-year-old she was possessed by supernatural spirits.

Metwally was found guilty of eight charges, including administering a noxious substance and a count of fraud.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism which involved using a hidden camera to film female patients getting changed at his private clinic.

During the eight-week trial, jurors heard Metwally, an NHS anaesthetist and chronic pain specialist, believed there were a number of entities, or jinns, "hiding" inside his partner, and that he had to remove them by reciting verses of the Koran and placing holy water and oils on her skin.

He performed more than 250 rituals and made dozens of recordings over a four-year period starting in 2016, the court was told.

The 'bizarre' case of the botched exorcisms

Extracts from 200 clips were shown to the jury, in which Metwally could be heard chanting as he administered fluids including sedatives through a cannula to a motionless Ms Wilson as she lay on a bed.

He was arrested after Ms Wilson fell into a coma on 4 July 2019. She was on the brink of a cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital that afternoon with multiple organ failure.

During investigations police found a "vast stock of drugs" at his home, including ketamine, propofol, fentanyl and Diazemuls.

They also found recordings, edited to make them more indecent, of Metwally's voyeurism victims.

Hossam Metwally had a "vast stock of drugs" at his Grimsby home

Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC dismissed Metwally's exorcisms as "entirely bogus" and said they had "nothing to do with established Islamic procedures".

Describing Metwally as a "fanatic", the judge said the rituals performed on Ms Wilson were "sham religious acts".

While Metwally may have believed, "in some perverted way" he was helping his partner, the judge said he had chosen to do so in a "bizarre way by botched medical procedures and the administration of potent drugs which regularly endangered her life".

Judge Richardson said Metwally, who had shown "not a shred of remorse" during his "preposterous defence", had exploited the vulnerability of a woman who was infatuated with him and "exposed her to a great physical danger".

"You are a disgrace to your profession and will not be a doctor for much longer," Judge Richardson said.

"You perverted medical practices for your own ends. You are also not a very good doctor because in those perverted practices you almost killed the woman you said you loved."

Det Ch Insp Rhodri Troake said it was "an unusual case, unlike any other in Humberside Police history".

"The offences Metwally committed were extremely serious and an abuse of his position and the trust his victims had in him. He is now exactly where he belongs, in prison."

He reassured previous patients that Metwally, who worked at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital and also ran a pain clinic from his home, was not found to have committed further offences nor put anyone else at risk.