Paediatric surgeon Peter Beale has been found not guilty on all charges related to the deaths of three children he operated on between 2016 and 2019.
Peter Beale found not guilty
The verdict was delivered in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, bringing an end to a long-running legal battle that began with his arrest in 2019.
Beale faced three counts of murder and two counts of fraud. The State argued that he had recklessly performed unnecessary surgeries to regain financial losses from a Ponzi scheme.
However, Judge Thifhelimbilu Mudau ruled that the State had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support these claims.
What was the case about?
The trial centred on Beale’s surgical decisions and whether they were medically justified. The prosecution alleged that he had knowingly performed operations that were not needed, leading to fatal complications.
The State’s case focused on three incidents:
- A 10-year-old child who underwent surgery for severe vomiting and later died due to complications. The prosecution argued that the operation was unnecessary, but Beale maintained it was justified based on the child’s symptoms.
- A three-year-old boy who reportedly did not have Hirschsprung’s disease but underwent surgery for it regardless. The prosecution alleged fraud, claiming Beale misrepresented biopsy results to the child’s mother.
- A 21-month-old girl who suffered fatal blood loss following a procedure. The State contended that Beale failed to properly manage the child’s condition during surgery.
Beale’s legal team, led by Advocate Barry Roux SC, the lawyer who garnered national infamy for representing Oscar Pistorius, argued that the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he had any intent to cause harm or deceive the parents.
The defence emphasised that all medical procedures carry risks and that unfortunate outcomes do not necessarily imply criminal conduct.
Judge Mudau ruled that while Beale may have misread certain medical reports, this did not amount to murder or fraud.
She noted that the law requires proof of deliberate wrongdoing, which the State failed to establish.
