Pathologist Dr Freddy Patel faces being struck off

Published: 17th March, 2011
by RICHARD OSLEY

THE pathologist who declared one of Camden Town serial killer Anthony Hardy’s victims had died of natural causes faces being struck off after his post mortem in the case was criticised by a medical tribunal.

Detectives shut down a murder investigation after Dr Freddy Patel ruled Sally White, a woman who worked as a prostitute, had died from heart failure – and not as the result of being attacked by Hardy.

The pathologist, who has overseen the post mortems of thousands of Camden and Islington residents, has now been criticised for not considering the possibility that Ms White had been strangled.

Just before he was about to go on trial, the killer, known as the Camden Ripper, confessed at the Old Bailey to murdering Ms White in his council flat on the College Place estate in 2002.

Her naked body had been found locked away in another room when police visited his flat to investigate a separate claim of vandalism. Her body had a bite mark and her scalp was bloodied.

Hardy was arrested on suspicion of murder but released without charge after the post mortem findings.

The case was crucial as later in the same year Hardy killed two more women in his flat, on those occasions cutting up their bodies and dumping them in black bags. The heads and hands of Liz Valad and Brigitte MacLennan were never recovered. Calls for a public inquiry from Ms Valad’s family were rejected.

Hardy is serving a life-means-life sentence for the killings after being convicted in November 2003.

As revealed first in the New Journal last year, the files on Ms White’s case were re-opened in the aftermath of Dr Patel’s handling of the death of newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson, who died after being pushed over by a police officer on the day of G20 protests.

In that case, Dr Patel also said Mr Tomlinson had died of natural causes. A second post mortem by a different pathologist found he had died from internal bleeding.

At a fitness to practise hearing brought by the General Medical Council, Dr Patel was criticised on Monday for a series of points connected with the Sally White case.

Panel chairwoman Vickie Isaac said: “The panel determined that it was clear from your first report that you had not adequately considered other possible modes of death, including asphyxia. Your conclusions were made without any adequate consideration of other possible modes of death, including asphyxia, and that this was irresponsible, not of the standard expected of a competent forensic pathologist when undertaking and reporting on special or forensic post mortem examination and liable to bring the medical profession into disrepute.”

Simon Jackson, for the GMC, told the hearing: “The upshot of that, the panel may feel, is that once Dr Patel had concluded that she died of natural causes, one real­ity was that there was no crime to investigate.”

During a Channel 4 documentary on Hardy’s crimes, one of the investigating officers, Detective Alan Bostock, said: “The cause of death was given as coronary heart disease, which we refer to as natural causes. Not suspicious. So to that extent there isn’t a case for us to investigate.”

He added: “I get paid to investigate unexplained deaths, suspicious deaths not deaths by natural causes. All those decisions are important decisions that are not made by me.”

The panel is deciding what sanction, if any, should be imposed. Penalties can include being struck of the medical register.