Former Southampton General Hospital surgeon found guilty of causing harm in during male circumcision operations

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A former Hampshire surgeon has been convicted of multiple offences relating to home circumcisions he performed outside his work for over a year.

Mohammad Siddiqui, 56, was a surgeon at Southampton General Hospital when he ran a private mobile circumcision service between June 2012 and November 2013 where he performed what the Crown Prosecution Service described as “painful cruelty to children”.

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Today (October 29), Siddiqui was convicted of causing actual bodily harm, child cruelty and administering a prescription only medicine to several young and vulnerable patients for ignoring basic hygiene rules in performing home male circumcisions and showing complete disregard to patient health, safety and comfort.

Siddiqui pled guilty at Southwark Crown Court to a total of 25 offences which included, 12 counts of actual bodily harm, 5 counts of cruelty to a child and 8 counts of administering prescription only medicines contrary to the law.

Anja Hohmeyer of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Siddiqui practised these circumcising acts in an unsafe and unsanitary environment and so meted out painful cruelty to children leaving them with emotional and physical scars.

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“He showed a complete disregard for the impact of his actions on his victims, families, and communities. We hope that this conviction offers some comfort in seeing Siddiqui being brought to justice.”

While running his private circumcision service he utilised his role as clinical fellow in paediatric surgery at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust to source the anaesthetic Bupivacaine Hydrochloride. He would then travel around the country and perform non-therapeutic male circumcisions on young patients up to the age of 14.

His actions caused him to be struck off the General Medical Council Register in 2015 after a panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found him guilty of failures in performing non-therapeutic male circumcisions in the homes of four babies.

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Even after he was struck off, he continued to run the service as non-therapeutic male circumcision is unregulated and you do not need to ne a medical practitioner to perform it. He continued to show disregard to the safety of his patients in performing in unsafe and unsanitary ways and using Bupivacaine in unsafe circumstances.

Detective chief superintendent Fiona Bitters from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary said: “This has been a complex investigation driven by the desire to secure justice for and safeguard children. Siddiqui’s pleas at this stage in his trial demonstrate the strength of the case that we had brought to the court with evidence relating to a number of victims having already been presented.

“Our investigation related to Siddiqui’s criminal actions whilst undertaking circumcision procedures and was not concerned with the practice of circumcision itself.

“I hope his pleas today help to bring some comfort to the his victims who have had to wait many years to see justice served for his actions”.