Freddy Patel to appear before disciplinary panel of GMC, which has power to strike him off register

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

The pathologist whose initial examination suggested that Ian Tomlinson died of a heart attack during the G20 protests in London is facing accusations that he conducted four other autopsies incompetently.

Dr Mohmed Saeed Sulema Patel ,known as Freddy Patel, will appear this week before a disciplinary panel of the General Medical Council, which has the power to strike him off the professional register.

The identities of the deceased in the postmortem examinations have not been disclosed in advance of the hearing, but they do not include Tomlinson because his case is under active consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service. It is possible that the four autopsies relate to fewer than four deaths, because more than one examination is sometimes performed on a body.

Patel has performed autopsies in contentious cases in London for two decades, some involving deaths in police custody. Tomlinson, 47, a newspaper seller, was allegedly assaulted by police during the G20 protests in the City of London in April 2009.

He had been walking home from work when he was confronted by officers. The incident was captured on video and broadcast on the Guardian's website.

No officer has been charged in relation to Tomlinson's death. The CPS has been considering a file sent to it by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) since last August.

Patel concluded Tomlinson had had a heart attack, implying his death was unrelated to any injuries sustained when he fell on to the pavement. A second autopsy, commissioned by the IPCC, found the cause of death was more likely to be abdominal bleeding – an injury consistent with a fall or assault. Tomlinson's death triggered complaints about excessive police force and highlighted concern over the independence of coroners' investigations.

Patel's professional record and findings were the subject of severe criticism at the time.

Another of the high-profile deaths for which Patel carried out an autopsy was that of Sally White, 38, whose body was discovered locked in a bedroom in the Camden flat of Anthony Hardy, a 52-year-old alcoholic with psychiatric problems.

The case was treated as suspicious until Patel detailed the cause of death as a heart attack. Hardy went on to kill Elizabeth Valad, 29, and Brigette MacClennan, 34.

Patel's medical work is already restricted. He has been suspended from the Home Office register of accredited forensic pathologists and barred from carrying out postmortem examinations in "suspicious death" cases.

Patel, who qualified as a doctor initially at the University of Zambia in 1974, was registered to practise in Britain in 1988.

In 1999 he was disciplined by the GMC after discussing, outside an inquest hearing, the medical history of Roger Sylvester, who died in police custody. He told reporters: "I am aware from the medical records held at Whittington hospital that Mr Sylvester was a user of crack cocaine."

Sylvester's family were devastated by the claim and denied that he been a user.

The advance GMC notice of this hearing says that its fitness to practise panel will "inquire into allegations that, whilst working as a consultant forensic pathologist, Dr Mohmed Patel's conduct in carrying our four postmortems was irresponsible …"

It adds that itwas "not of the standard expected of a competent Home Office registered forensic pathologist and that in one case his conduct was liable to bring the profession into disrepute".

Deborah Coles, of the charity Inquest, said: "This [GMC] case raises two important questions: how robust is the decision-making process adopted by coroners when instructing pathologists, and what checks and balances exist to deal with concerns about an individual pathologist's conduct in contentious cases."

Patel has previously defended his work. "As far as I know, my findings [in the White case] stand as they were, and I wasn't criticised," he said last year. He declined to comment about the hearing. "I can't say anything," he said.