Paterson patient called him 'saviour', court hears

A woman who died following treatment from jailed breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson had described him as "her saviour", an inquest heard.

Catherine Coyne, 51, died in February 2008 after developing secondary cancer, before any questions emerged about her care.

Her widower, Stuart Coyne, told the opening day of her inquest at Birmingham Coroners' Court on Tuesday that Paterson carried out surgeries on both her breasts in 2002. The surgeon then told her in 2007 that her mammograms looked fine, he added.

Paterson was jailed for 20 years in 2017 after being convicted of wounding patients. The inquests are examining whether any of his former patients died an unnatural death.

Previously, Stuart Coyne said, as the family grieved her death, questions emerged over a "cleavage-sparing" procedure that was not recognised by authorities, where breast tissue was left behind.

Paterson also gave evidence on Tuesday and claimed he had inherited assumptions about Catherine's condition and defended his decision to carry out a second surgery on her before she had had chemotherapy.

Catherine Coyne, a data protection officer, worked at Birmingham City Council before she took ill-health retirement. She died at home in Hampton Coppice, Solihull.

Describing his wife, Coyne said she had an "outgoing personality, she was kind, helpful and strong-willed".

She liked knitting and sewing, was an advocate for other ladies suffering from breast cancer and her two children were "the centre of her world", the court heard.

Coyne said he met Paterson four or five times, the last time being when the disgraced surgeon reviewed his wife's mammograms in 2007.

He said both he and Catherine never questioned the treatment she received and added that she had described Paterson as "her saviour".

He mentioned he was surprised by how quickly her first surgery, on her left breast, was completed on 21 August 2002, but added he had no idea how long it should take or what it would look like afterwards.

Paterson operated on her right breast two weeks later, the surgeries leaving behind "two small mounds on her chest wall".

The couple had assumed the procedure was carried out correctly, Coyne previously told the BBC.

He told the court he was shocked to receive a letter from the coroner's office, saying an inquest was being opened into her death.

Catherine's early investigations were led by NHS clinicians from the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, who suspected she had inflammatory breast cancer.

She met Paterson, the inquest heard, when she opted for private treatment and he wrote in a letter that he also "supposed" she had inflammatory breast cancer.

Appearing via a video link from prison, Paterson told the coroner he had "inherited" those assumptions, despite the fact Catherine did not present with classic symptoms of a "hot, red, angry-looking swollen breast".

The inquest lawyer asked why he carried out a preventative mastectomy on Catherine's right breast, after removing a cancerous mass from her left, without her first undergoing chemotherapy.

Paterson replied that she was very upset about her breasts being "grossly asymmetrical" and was determined to have the second surgery.

Following the double mastectomy, it was noted by Catherine and a plastic surgeon that she had been left with a size C cup for her left breast and size D for the right.

When put to Paterson that she should have had no breast tissue remaining, he responded that his patient had very large breasts to begin with, so there was a lot of fat which diluted the tissue and no mastectomy was 100% complete.

"This was as complete as it could be," he added.

The inquest is due to continue for two more days.

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