Rogue surgeon Ian Paterson refuses to leave cell during inquest into patient deaths

Rogue surgeon Ian Paterson, 66, cowardly refused to leave his prison cell to hear how his botched operation led to a young woman contracting cancer in the breast she believed he had removed.

Paterson, who subjected more than 1,000 patients to unnecessary and damaging operations over 14 years, is serving a 20-year-jail sentence and yesterday Britain's largest ever inquest hearings began with the probe into the death of mum Chloe Nikitas, 43, at the Priory Hospital in April 2008.

This marked the first of 62 scheduled to be heard at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's Court over the next eight months touching on the deaths of Paterson's former patients.

Ms Nikitas, who was diagnosed with grade two invasive ductal carcinoma in 2002, would never have agreed to the procedure, carried out by disgraced surgeon Paterson at the Little Aston Hospital, if she had known it would have left breast tissue behind and risked her cancer returning, her partner of 18 years Klaus Strohle told the hearing.

He said no other surgical options were offered to Ms Nikitas, an environmental consultant from Tamworth, and they assumed the "cleavage-sparing mastectomy" on her left breast was the "best course of action" as it was touted as a "pioneering" surgery.

After undergoing the mastectomy, reconstructive surgery and chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Ms Nikitas discovered a lump in the same breast in April 2005 and was initially told there was nothing to worry about until a PET scan in October that year revealed grade two ductal breast cancer - the same cancer as before only this time terminal.

He said: "How could it be that she had cancer again in the reconstructed breast?

"Chloe had had a mastectomy, the whole point of that is to remove tissue so it doesn't come back, what was the point in her going through it?

"We were told we were just exceptionally unlucky, that it was a one in a million chance, that it was sheer bad luck.

"We were under no illusion that this was a death sentence. It was metastatic, and it was terminal."

The company director said they had been given sales patter by Paterson and no warning of increased dangers of reoccurrence.

He added: "If we were, I can assure you we wouldn't have chosen that option. We assumed it was a new methodology for treating breast cancer. We were given no other options for surgery.

"You trust doctors and that they are going to do the best thing for you - they are the experts in their field."

Paterson has been ordered to give evidence after Coroner Judge Richard Foster rebuffed his attempts to have his witness statement withdrawn and be excused attendance on medical grounds.

But after Paterson refused to leave his cell to join a video-link claimed poor health made him unable to attend requested not to give evidence on health grounds.

The coroner said it was "disappointing" that Paterson had failed to attend and he should have given evidence "out of respect to the families of those who have died". He added that he hopes Paterson will reconsider his participation as it will "enhance the quality" of the investigation.

The coroner reserved his position for Paterson's breach of his order and will return to it at a later date.

In 2017, Paterson was found guilty of 17 counts of wounding people with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding.

The inquest continues.