Ed Balls it seems gave a character witness to a Doctor who told one lie after another. I fail therefore to see Balls having any good judgement in who should be heading CEOP. Gamble lied under Oath and was the reference of the good doctor a favour for taking Balls blood pressure at a photo shoot.? Wheels within wheels again it would seem.
A GP has been jailed for eight months for concocting a ‘tangled web’ of lies to cover up his blunder in failing to visit a sick patient.
Dr Puthyadthu Kartha Venugopal forged documents and falsified paperwork after the patient sued him and he realised he could face financial ruin because he was not insured.
The family doctor had insisted he visited Janet Moore at home as requested following a hospital operation, but was found to be lying.
His failure to visit the grandmother, who is now dead, led to a delay in detecting an abscess which, in turn, meant she developed a ‘significant disability’
Had Dr Venu – as he was known – made the home visit the problem could have been treated successfully.
Mrs Moore, of Normanton, West Yorkshire, began legal action in 2004 and the GP maintained his false story for another four years until the judge dealing with the civil compensation claim ruled he was lying.
Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court earlier this week the police then became involved and Dr Venu was arrested.
Venugopal, 61, of Wakefield – who received a character reference from local Labour MP Ed Balls – admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Passing sentence the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC, said he accepted the doctor had been a well-respected medical practitioner but his was a serious and prolonged attempt to avoid losing a civil case.
The court heard the professional indemnity insurance for Venugopal’s practice had ‘lapsed’ the year before the home visit incident in December 2001.
This made the subsequent legal action far more serious because there was no insurer to pick up the bill.
Quoting Sir Walter Scott, the judge said: ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive. One lie had to be followed by another, one false document required further false documents in a hopeless attempt to give credibility to your account.’
He accepted medical evidence showed that Venugopal had been suffering from depression and stress but said he must be jailed.
Mr Sharp said Mrs Moore was admitted to hospital in August 2001 for a partial colectomy. She developed complications and was eventually discharged in a frail state on December 4, 2001.
A deputising service visited her two days later and recommended a GP visit her the next day. This didn’t happen and she was readmitted to hospital on December 12 having developed an epidural abscess, a rare infection and inflammation of the area around the spinal cord.
It is a potentially life-threatening disease that if left untreated can lead to paralysis.
If Mrs Moore had been admitted on December 7 Mr Sharp said the abscess would, ‘on the balance of probabilities, have been detected and treated’.
When Venugopal realised he wasn’t insured he began to ‘apply himself to creating a paper trail’ to show he had visited Mrs Moore on December 7, 10 and 12, the court heard.
He even removed sheets of paper from the practice’s daily visit record and typed out new ones. But he was caught out when the torn originals were found by a receptionist and handed to the practice manager.
He also forged a supposed referral letter to Pinderfields Hospital and pretended he had mistakenly recorded a visit to Mrs Moore, who died in 2008, in another J. Moore’s records.
Andrew Haslam, defending, gave the judge references from patients and a letter from Shadow Home Secretary Ed Balls, indicating the doctor’s good work.
He also produced a receipt for the Glory of India award, given to distinguished ex-patriates, for the doctor’s services to health in the area.
A GP has been jailed for eight months for concocting a ‘tangled web’ of lies to cover up his blunder in failing to visit a sick patient.
Dr Puthyadthu Kartha Venugopal forged documents and falsified paperwork after the patient sued him and he realised he could face financial ruin because he was not insured.
The family doctor had insisted he visited Janet Moore at home as requested following a hospital operation, but was found to be lying.
Jailed for eight months: Dr Puthyadthu Venugopal, pictured with MP Ed Balls, who provided a character reference for him during his trial
Had Dr Venu – as he was known – made the home visit the problem could have been treated successfully.
Mrs Moore, of Normanton, West Yorkshire, began legal action in 2004 and the GP maintained his false story for another four years until the judge dealing with the civil compensation claim ruled he was lying.
Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court earlier this week the police then became involved and Dr Venu was arrested.
Venugopal, 61, of Wakefield – who received a character reference from local Labour MP Ed Balls – admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Passing sentence the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC, said he accepted the doctor had been a well-respected medical practitioner but his was a serious and prolonged attempt to avoid losing a civil case.
The court heard the professional indemnity insurance for Venugopal’s practice had ‘lapsed’ the year before the home visit incident in December 2001.
This made the subsequent legal action far more serious because there was no insurer to pick up the bill.
Quoting Sir Walter Scott, the judge said: ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive. One lie had to be followed by another, one false document required further false documents in a hopeless attempt to give credibility to your account.’
He accepted medical evidence showed that Venugopal had been suffering from depression and stress but said he must be jailed.
Mr Sharp said Mrs Moore was admitted to hospital in August 2001 for a partial colectomy. She developed complications and was eventually discharged in a frail state on December 4, 2001.
A deputising service visited her two days later and recommended a GP visit her the next day. This didn’t happen and she was readmitted to hospital on December 12 having developed an epidural abscess, a rare infection and inflammation of the area around the spinal cord.
It is a potentially life-threatening disease that if left untreated can lead to paralysis.
If Mrs Moore had been admitted on December 7 Mr Sharp said the abscess would, ‘on the balance of probabilities, have been detected and treated’.
When Venugopal realised he wasn’t insured he began to ‘apply himself to creating a paper trail’ to show he had visited Mrs Moore on December 7, 10 and 12, the court heard.
He even removed sheets of paper from the practice’s daily visit record and typed out new ones. But he was caught out when the torn originals were found by a receptionist and handed to the practice manager.
He also forged a supposed referral letter to Pinderfields Hospital and pretended he had mistakenly recorded a visit to Mrs Moore, who died in 2008, in another J. Moore’s records.
Andrew Haslam, defending, gave the judge references from patients and a letter from Shadow Home Secretary Ed Balls, indicating the doctor’s good work.
He also produced a receipt for the Glory of India award, given to distinguished ex-patriates, for the doctor’s services to health in the area.
