Simon Bramhall: Surgeon who branded patients' livers during operations fined £10,000

A surgeon who burned his initials into the livers of two patients has been fined £10,000.

Simon Bramhall, 53, used an argon beam machine to write his initials on the organs of patients in operations in 2013 while working at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Birmingham Crown Court earlier heard that the surgeon's actions were a "naive and foolhardy" attempt to relieve tension after two difficult transplant operations.

Last month, Bramhall pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating, after prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm relating to the patients.

Bramhall arrived at court for sentencing today (12 January) and was also handed a 12-month community order.

An argon beam machine is designed to seal bleeding blood vessels. But the surgeon used the device to burn his initials 'SB' into the livers of two patients.

Doctors have said that burning organs in this way would not have damaged them or affected the health of the patients.

However, the court earlier heard prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC say that one of the two victims was left feeling "violated" and had suffered ongoing psychological harm.

Bramhall resigned from the Birmingham hospital in 2014 after another surgeon found 'SB' branded into a liver and raised concerns.