Five years after he was arrested, renowned paediatric surgeon Peter Beale took the stand in the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) to answer to the charges of murder and fraud in connection with the deaths of three children on whom he had operated.
Beale has denied being financially motivated to carry out unnecessary surgeries, and told the court this week he had been subjected to a trial by the media.
He was cross-examined by state advocate Steven Rubin, who questioned Beale about comments he had made previously – that the family of one of the children involved was “influential”.
The paediatrician, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, had said the boy’s father, Mohammadh Sayed (a director of tobacco manufacturer Carnilinx), had made his position publically evident.
Beale, who is alleged to have acted recklessly and unlawfully in operating on the children, said there was, in fact, “a trial by media” after the child’s death, reports EWN.
In his testimony last week, he described the death of the 10-year-old boy – hours after he operated on him – as tragic, upsetting and something he never expected.
He said he had wanted to help the child, and stop his suffering.
“His life was miserable. He was always vomiting and not responding to medication. Surgery was the only solution, in my view, for his condition,” he told the court.
It was an uncomplicated procedure but took longer than average, he added.
“The degree of obesity or overweight status of the patient contributed. The operating space within the abdomen was smaller, there were fat deposits within and around organs, and I had to work carefully.”
During the surgery, anaesthetist Dr Abdulhay Munshi had asked him to pause the procedure, as oxygen saturation had decreased.
The boy’s pulse had gone up.
Beale told the court the pause was not more than 10 minutes.
News24 reports that Munshi, who was Beale’s co-accused in the case, was shot dead in a suspected hit in 2020.
In his plea explanation, Beale said he misread the biopsy report that the boy had intestinal metaplasia – used as a reason to perform the procedure.
However, he said his decision to go ahead with procedure was not primarily based on the biopsy report – that there were other indications that the surgery was needed.
Even if he had read the biopsy report correctly, he added, he would have still gone done the procedure.
He denied performing surgeries to recoup lost money, saying he had always been in an excellent financial position, even after losing more than R1.5m in a massive Ponzi scheme.
“I was depressed but got over it. It (the R1.5m loss) didn’t make a substantial difference to my financial status then. I didn’t lose anything. I didn’t have to change my lifestyle…or sell my house.”
Before his divorce in 2020, he said, the value of his joint estate with his ex-wife was more than R40m, excluding fixed properties, and they owned several properties.
Currently, his estate was worth more than R20m and his financial adviser and said he could enjoy his retirement and travel.
The trial continues.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Defence in Peter Beale trial questions mother's memory
Accused paediatric surgeon Dr Peter Beale struck from HPCSA register
Culpable homicide charge added to surgeon Peter Beale’s murder/fraud case