AC-2024-MAN-000469 - [2025] EWHC 2049 (Admin)

Patient A said in his 9 May 2022 witness statement that the Appellant “slapped the right side of my neck multiple times in quick succession”. He continued “I cannot remember exactly how many times, but it was definitely more than once and probably up to three times”. He said that when he saw Ms Baker the day after the operation, he told her about the slap. In examination-in-chief, he said “I’m pretty sure it was just twice”. He was cross-examined and maintained that he felt the slaps. It was put to him that his account was not truthful, which he denied. He told the Tribunal that he had not participated in the Trust investigation or given evidence in the criminal trials because he had several criminal convictions and did not want to be involved with the police.

Dr Singh said in her 19 May 2022 witness statement that she did not see the alleged assault but that she “heard a single hard slap” which “caught me completely by surprise and I looked up”, then “quietly mouthed to the ODP, “did he hit him?” and that “the ODP nodded”. She confirmed under cross-examination that she heard but did not see the slap.

ODP Cousins in his 17 November 2022 witness statement said that the Appellant “used his left hand to strike the patient’s left cheek three times and said something like “stop messing around you fucker”. He maintained his recollection under cross-examination. He told the Tribunal that he saw the Appellant remove the patient’s mask and slap the patient three times using his left hand on the left cheek. During the course of the Trust investigation he had asserted that the slaps were to the right side of the patient’s face.

Neither Dr Singh nor ODP Cousins made a formal complaint about the alleged slapping incident until 19 days after events took place. Alleged contamination of the evidence was an issue at the hearing because it was agreed that they had discussed the events with each other, and that Dr Singh had spoken to her husband, before committing their accounts to paper. There was further evidence that they had discussed their recollection of events at the Crown Court whilst waiting to give evidence in the appeal. They did not agree as to how long the conversation had taken and the precise detail of what they had discussed, but agreed they had spoken about the fact that Dr Singh had referred to hearing a single slap whilst ODP Cousins said he had seen three.

Ms Baker was in the room at the material time but told the Tribunal that she did not hear or see any slaps, as she was focused on her computer. Nobody present in the operating theatre at the time reported anything to her either during the operation or at the debrief which took place at the end of the surgical list. The first she became aware of the issue was when she saw Patient A the following day who told her “I got a slap”. At the time that she was told this, during the Trust interview and in evidence to the Tribunal, she stated that she was not sure whether the contact felt by Patient A to his neck was consistent with the provision of the anaesthetic by inhalation.

Ms Crooks corroborated the fact that ODP Cousins recounted what had happened in theatre to her on 9 August 2019.