Fraud case against top cancer surgeon is in a 'legal black hole and may never be resolved'

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

The case against Nigel Sacks, a former senior consultant at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, whose celebrity patients have included Nigella Lawson, was last week adjourned until May so the Attorney General and Crown Prosecution Service can decide how best to proceed.

Sacks, 50, faces 19 charges of false accounting stemming from alleged discrepancies between invoices for operations submitted to health insurance giant AXA PPP and patients' medical notes.

Scroll down for more ...

Top doctor: Nigel Sacks faces 19 charges of false accounting

The legal complications have arisen as Sacks suffered a nervous breakdown after his arrest and is too ill to attend court.

His defence counsel said he was a 'medium' suicide risk.

Both the CPS and the defence wish to avoid a costly court case, which they say is not in the public interest. But Attorney General Baroness Scotland refused and wants a 'fitness to plead' hearing.

Unusually both prosecution and defence not only disagree with the decision, but say the Attorney General is 'wrong in law'.

One lawyer in the case said: 'In my 20 years in the law, I have never known a case such as this one. It is in a legal black hole.'