Death-case doctor charged in England

A doctor found guilty of professional misconduct for his care of psychiatric patient Mark Burton has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in Britain.

Dr Peter Fisher was the principal doctor for Mr Burton, who stabbed his mother to death in 2001, the day after he had been discharged from Southland Hospital's mental health unit.

Mr Burton was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity at a trial.

Dr Fisher, who was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport a few days ago as he returned from an overseas trip, has been charged with the manslaughter of a patient in the north of England, One News reported last night.

He has been released on £25,000 ($NZ64,000) bail.

Peter Weighman, 39, died at West Cumberland Hospital in September 2002 from an overdose of painkillers.

His death occurred a month after Dr Fisher joined the hospital from New Zealand.

An inquest found Mr Weighman's suicide was aggravated by neglect following Dr Fisher's inappropriate advice and direction.

Dr Fisher, who was sacked from the hospital, was not registered to practice as a doctor in England.

Mr Weighman's mother, Maureen, told One News the family were delighted Dr Fisher had been charged.

"We've waited three years for this. It just seems as if it's been a very long and drawn-out procedure but we've actually got our man, as they say."

"He shouldn't have been in that hospital working as he was as a doctor," said Mrs Weighman.

"We just hope he gets what's coming to him, to be quite honest."

In 2003, the New Zealand Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found Dr Fisher guilty of 17 of 27 charges relating to his care of Mr Burton, which it said was "seriously deficient in a number of significant areas".

The tribunal suspended Dr Fisher's medical registration for six months and made an order for him to pay more than $86,000 in costs.

He was also ordered to take part in a vocational training programme in psychiatry for three years, if he was to continue work in that area.

Mr Burton's father, Trevor, said the case reopened old wounds for the family and he expected people to learn from their mistakes "and not blunder again".

Last year, the family of West Coast man Tristan Dick, who killed himself, laid a complaint over Dr Fisher's care.

A spokesman for the New Zealand Medical Council said the council was reluctant to comment on whether they had been contacted by Dr Fisher's employer in Cumbria as the issue was before an English court.

The process followed was "by the book".