Tuesday, 09 Sep, 2008 Offbeat

A doctor was sentenced to 3 years in prison after the French court found him guilty of pretending to be a plastic surgeon and putting in danger patients who were illegally operated in an abandoned clinic in Marseille.

In June Michel Maure was accused of luring hundreds of people to the dirty abandoned clinic and performing painful, unhygienic surgical operations in the period between 2002 and 2004. The court ordered Maure to pay 75,000 euro ($107,600) fine and to give money back to his victims.

It is worth mentioning that about 100 patients filed complains of disfigurement and permanent damage to their health.

While the court prepared its ruling the fake surgeon went on the run but was later captured in Spain after police spotted him on a luxury yacht.

Maure was an experienced doctor. However, he was not trained to be a plastic surgeon. After his illegal activities at the Marseille clinic he was struck off the list of appreciated French doctors.

According to the French media, Maure called himself "one of the greatest surgeons in the world."

Source: News Yahoo