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The pastor of a church which offered to ‘cure’ gay people with a three-day starvation programme is an NHS brain surgeon working in Ireland, the ECHO understands.

Dr Desmond Dele Sanusi, pastor of the Liverpool branch of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries on Breck Road, was today revealed as a doctor registered with the General Medical Council - who is believed to be working as a neurosurgeon for the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

The trust, which oversees eight different hospitals, confirmed that Dr Sanusi was an employee, but refused to declare his job title or which hospital he works in.

They also said that they are “looking into” the ECHO’s claims with a multi-department investigation.

Details of Dr Saunsi’s career are widely available online - including information on a conference in Seoul, South Korea where he presented 10 years of research into malignant brain tumours.

The talk was held in 2013 at the World Federation Neurosurgical Societies annual conference.

An undercover ECHO reporter found the church’s assistant pastor was offering ‘deliverance’ therapy - often referred to as ‘pray the gay away’ - to ‘cure’ homosexuality.

Their website also suggests it should be undertaken by victims of sexual assault and child abuse.

When approached with our findings, Dr Sanusi repeatedly denied that the church discriminated against gay people - and said that any advice given out was not sanctioned by himself - instead advising a 24-hour fasting period.

He told the ECHO: “If you come to the church to come and pray to come and know God better you are welcome. We don’t discriminate against people.

“[The programme] been running for over 20 years and nobody has dropped dead.”

As part of the therapy, our reporter - acting undercover - was told that he should starve himself without drinking any water for up to three days in order for the ‘cure’ to be more effective. At no point was any medical examination offered.

Companies House records name Dr Sanusi as the director of Converriage Ventures Limited, registered to an address in Warrington. which is described as a ‘financial management business’ which also has interests in the ‘regulation of health care, education, cultural and other social services and other human health activities’.

The company was formed in 2016 with £250,000 worth of shares.

Although Dr Desmond’s involvement with the church is not believed to be in contravention of any rules or regulations, the church’s recommendations go against a memorandum of understanding signed by over 15 professional medical bodies in 2015 - including the NHS.

The document was signed by 15 governing bodies including the NHS, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and states that there is “no evidence” that conversion therapy works, while there is evidence it has “the potential to cause harm”.

The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries website - which also has a ‘meet the pastor’ section featuring Dr Sanusi, advertises deliverance therapy sessions which are held every three months.

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However experts slammed the as “dangerous” for both mental and physical health, and said the ECHO’s findings are “extremely concerning”.

Dr Louise Theodosiou, consultant psychiatrist from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told us that the fasting element of the therapy poses “huge” risks to physical health, and could impact on the brain function of those undergoing the treatment.

She said: “If a person doesn’t eat for 24 hours, while that wouldn’t lead to a significant deterioration in your brain function, you certainly wouldn’t be functioning at your normal rate of mental agility or acuity. It would be dangerous, for example, for them to drive.

“You can imagine a person would be extremely thirsty after that length of time so there may be a situation where you exacerbate underlying health conditions and then overload your fluids in your desperation to relieve your thirst.”

A spokesperson for the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust said: “Belfast Trust is investigating the claims put to them”.

Update: A petition for government to make gay conversion therapy a criminal offence has been launched. You can sign it here.