A surgeon who cut off a four-year-old's penis while carrying out circumcision as the boy's father took photographs has been cleared of negligence, it has emerged (file photo)

A surgeon who cut off a four-year-old's penis while carrying out circumcision as the boy's father took photographs has been cleared of negligence, it has emerged.

The child had turned towards his father when the surgeon sliced through his penis which then fell to the floor of the operating room in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Swiss doctor who carried out the procedure in July 2014 was accused of causing serious bodily harm through negligence.

But the 59-year-old has since been cleared after a trial in Geneva after defence lawyers ruled the doctor could not be responsible for the 'unforeseeable act' of the boy turning to pose for photos.

The incident happened in July 2014, when Algerian refugees in Geneva, who have not been publicly named, brought their son to the surgery to be circumcised.

In many religions, a circumcision ceremony is celebrated, which was the case with the young boy and his family, who are believed to be Muslim.

As the doctor was making his incision, the boy's father raised his hand to take a photo. His son turned toward him, moving his pelvis and causing the surgeon to slice off his penis, which fell to the floor.

The boy's penis was finally re-attached, and three years after the procedure, is continuing to recover, it has been reported.

In the months after the surgery, the boy couldn't urinate normally, with the spray splitting 'into two or three' streams, his mother said, according to Le Matin.

She said that his penis shape is 'satisfactory' but 'a bit dented', adding that he's suffered loss of 'substance' in the glands.

The boy has to wait until he's 18, however, to see if any further procedures on his reattached penis will be necessary.

The family was taken to Geneva University Hospital (pictured above in a file photo). The penis was finally reattached at the facility

Prosecutor Judith Lévy Owczarczak had claimed that the doctor wanted to cover up what he had done, and spent hours 'running around Geneva trying to find a catheter' instead of taking the boy to the hospital, according to Tribune de Geneve.

Defence lawyer Charles Joye, however, said that the doctor told the father to immediately take his son to the hospital.

At the time of the operation, the doctor had performed 700 circumcisions, and since the incident, the number has increased to 2,500.