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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Doctor found not guilty of performing FGM | Doctor found not guilty of performing FGM |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| An NHS doctor has been cleared of performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on a young mother. | An NHS doctor has been cleared of performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on a young mother. |
| Dhanuson Dharmasena, 32, was accused of carrying out the illegal procedure when stitching the woman after she gave birth at the Whittington Hospital, north London, in 2012. | Dhanuson Dharmasena, 32, was accused of carrying out the illegal procedure when stitching the woman after she gave birth at the Whittington Hospital, north London, in 2012. |
| A second man, Hasan Mohamed, 41, of Holloway, north London, has been cleared of aiding and abetting him. | |
| The trial is the first prosecution of its kind in the UK. | The trial is the first prosecution of its kind in the UK. |
| 'Hung out to dry' | 'Hung out to dry' |
| A jury acquitted Dr Dharmasena after less than half an hour of deliberations. | A jury acquitted Dr Dharmasena after less than half an hour of deliberations. |
| Defence barrister Zoe Johnson QC said he had "been hung out to dry" and forced to pay the "ultimate price" for hospital failings. | Defence barrister Zoe Johnson QC said he had "been hung out to dry" and forced to pay the "ultimate price" for hospital failings. |
| It had been alleged that the stitching Dr Dharmasena performed on the woman effectively redid the FGM carried out on her as a six-year-old in Somalia. | It had been alleged that the stitching Dr Dharmasena performed on the woman effectively redid the FGM carried out on her as a six-year-old in Somalia. |
| Dr Dharmasena, of Ilford, north-east London, told Southwark Crown Court he "regarded FGM as an abhorrent practice". | Dr Dharmasena, of Ilford, north-east London, told Southwark Crown Court he "regarded FGM as an abhorrent practice". |
| After the verdict, he said: "I am extremely relieved with the court's verdict and I am grateful to the jury for their careful consideration of the facts." | |
| He said he looked forward to putting the matter behind him. | |
| He now faces an investigation by the General Medical Council, which suspended him in March. He has been working in a lab undertaking research since. | |
| The two-week trial heard the mother was taken to the Whittington Hospital in north London on November 24, 2012. | |
| But hospital trust failings meant she had not been placed on the FGM pathway as she should have been. | |
| Instead Dr Dharmasena, then a junior registrar, faced the "nightmarish scenario" of discovering she was circumcised as she went into emergency labour. | |
| He had never treated a woman with FGM before or received any training in it. | |
| Ms Johnson said: "Female genital mutilation is not going to be stopped in this country by labelling Dr Dharmasena a criminal and a mutilator of women." | |
| Her words were echoed by Edmund Vickers, representing Mr Mohamed. | |
| He said: "The irony may not be lost on you that the purpose of the Female Genital Mutilation Act is to protect victims of female genital mutilation. | |
| "And yet this first prosecution has brought a victim of female genital mutilation into the full glare of a public trial." |