Doctor who escaped a murder trial is caught

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court has started the re-trial of a physician accused of forgery and negligence that led to a patient’s death.

The doctor was sentenced in absentia as he fled from the country.

According to court records, he then returned to the UAE a year before the statute of limitation had expired (period after which charges could not be brought forth to trial). He was apprehended at the airport and was referred to court.

The accused was a physician in a public hospital when he was charged with negligence when a patient needed a blood transfusion. Failing to have the type of blood needed for the patient, he forged a report stating that the patient had had a blood transfusion. The patient died due to negligence.

An autopsy was done and it revealed the truth about the cause of death, and the doctor was referred to the prosecution for killing a patient through forgery and negligence.

The doctor, however, managed to flee the country and was sentenced in absentia to three and a half years in prison in addition to paying blood money.