Islamic religious fanatic jailed for almost killing his girlfriend in 'dangerous and perverted' exorcisms

An Islamic religious fanatic, who almost killed his girlfriend during an attempted exorcism ceremony, has been jailed for 14-and-a-half-years.

Dr. Hossam Metwally, an NHS anaesthetist and chronic pain specialist who worked at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, north-east Lincolnshire, was arrested after his girlfriend Kelly Wilson, 34, fell into a coma on July 4, 2019. The 61-year-old had convinced Wilson that she was possessed by supernatural spirits, and brought her to the brink of death by injecting her with drugs during a series of bogus exorcism ceremonies at their Grimsby home.

During the eight-week trial, Metwally said that he believed there were a number of supernatural entities or jinns, "hiding" inside his partner, which he removed by reciting verses of the Koran and placing holy water and oils on her skin. The court was told that the former health professional had performed more than 250 such rituals over a four-year period starting in 2016, and excerpts from 200 recordings that he made of the ceremony were shown to the jury, reports Mail Online.

In the clips, Metwally could be heard chanting as part of a "dangerous perversion" of the Islamic Ruqya ritual while he administered fluids including sedatives through a cannula to his girlfriend as she lay on a bed motionless. Eventually one of the rituals sent her on the brink of a cardiac arrest after which she was taken to the hospital with multiple organ failures.

The father-of-four has been found guilty of eight charges, including administering a noxious substance and a count of fraud. He has also pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism which involved him using a hidden camera to film female patients getting changed at the private pain clinic that he ran from his home.

While sentencing him to the prison term on Monday, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC dismissed Metwally's exorcisms as "entirely bogus" and "sham religious acts" performed by a "fanatic" and having no relations with "established Islamic procedures." The judge said that the convict may have believed "in some perverted way" that he was helping his partner, but he chose to do so in a "bizarre way by botched medical procedures and the administration of potent drugs which regularly endangered her life".

Judge Richardson also noted that Metwally had not shown "a shred of remorse" during his "preposterous defence," had exploited the vulnerability of a woman who was infatuated with him, and "exposed her to a great physical danger".

"You are a disgrace to your profession and will not be a doctor for much longer. You perverted medical practices for your own ends. You are also not a very good doctor because in those perverted practices you almost killed the woman you said you loved," the judge told Metwally.