A nurse has been found guilty of manslaughter after causing a baby's death by botching his circumcision.
Grace Adeleye, 67, carried out the procedure on four-week-old
Goodluck Caubergs at an address in Chadderton, Oldham, in April
2010. The boy bled to death before he could reach hospital the following
day. Adeleye was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence at
Manchester Crown Court.
The nurse, who denied the charge, had told
the jury she had done "more than 1,000" circumcision operations without
incident. The court heard that Adeleye and Goodluck's parents were from
Nigeria, where the circumcision of newborns is the tradition for
Christian families. Adeleye, of Sarnia Court, Salford, was paid £100 to
do the operation.
The jury was told that she carried out the
procedure using a pair of scissors, forceps and olive oil and without
anaesthetic. She had claimed there had been "no problem" when she left
the infant and that his
parents had been pleased with the operation.
However,
the court heard that when Goodluck's parents had changed his nappy
several hours later, they had found a large amount of blood and phoned
Adeleye, who had told them to redress the wound. Goodluck's parents
called an ambulance the following morning and he was taken to the Royal
Oldham Hospital, where he died a short time later.
A spokesman for
NHS Oldham said had the family gone to the hospital and asked for a
circumcision, "they would have been advised to go to an approved
practitioner who would have charged £100, the same as Grace
Adeleye". Following the guilty verdict, Adeleye was bailed while
pre-sentencing reports are prepared.
The Crown Prosecution
Service's Jane Wragg said the case "was not about the rights or wrongs
of circumcision, but the grossly negligent way in which the procedure
was undertaken"."Goodluck Caubergs was a healthy little boy whose tragic
death was wholly unnecessary," she said.
"Goodluck died because
the standard of care taken by Grace Adeleye in carrying out the
circumcision fell far below the standard that should be applied.
"She also failed to inform his parents of the risks and possible complications, which ultimately led to his tragic death."
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