Attorney General Cameron Dick has protested against the seven year sentence awarded to Dr. Jayant Patel on grounds that it is inadequate and fails to do justice to the seriousness of the crime. He said, “The grounds of this appeal are that these sentences are inadequate in all the circumstances and fail to reflect the gravity of the offences.”
Patel, 60, a surgeon at Bundaberg Base hospital was sentenced to a seven year imprisonment for the manslaughter of three patients and the grievous bodily harm of a fourth earlier this month. The incidents occurred during his term as Director at the institute between 2003 and 2005. The trial ran from March 2010 and was one of the longest Supreme Court criminal trials in Queensland's history.
Widow of one of the killed patients, Judy Kemps, welcomed the AG’s move. Bundaberg Hospital Patients Support Group president Beryl Crosby also feels that initially they were happy about the sentence but the AG’s protest has pleased them too. She said, “The seven year sentence, obviously it's a light sentence when you look at it in that context, so I mean we were really pleased he was doing jail time but I am really really pleased that Attorney-General has taken this stance.” Glen Cranny from the Queensland Law Society said the appeals would take time. “They (both appeals) will be heard together. The appeal will be given a date in the Court of Appeal,” he explained. He also said there was a possibility of the case going to higher courts and “That's more likely in terms of the conviction issue than the sentencing issues.”
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