Plastic surgeon who attempted to kill fellow doctor over work dispute jailed for life

The victim, Graeme Perks - who was 65 at the time - had retired the month before the attack and suffered “extremely life-threatening” injuries to his liver, intestines and pancreas.

It was only because of the medical staff who treated Perks that he survived. His injuries were so severe that 95 per cent of people in a similar condition would be expected to die.

In April, Brooks was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder, arson with intent to endanger life, and possession of a bladed article.

Brooks, a consultant specialising in burns and plastics since 1987 and a former "Plastic Surgeon of the Year" for Nottinghamshire, was motivated to commit the attack by an ongoing work dispute in which the victim was a key witness.

Sentencing Brooks, Mr Justice Pepperall said: “You must’ve had substantial professional experience of those who have suffered appalling burns.

“You were a trained surgeon and yet you plunged a knife into your colleagues body.

“Your crimes have robbed Graeme and Beverley Perks of the care free retirement that they deserved.”

Describing the case, he added: “You were fixated on your employment difficulties, and you blamed Mr Perks for your troubles.

“Your key demands were that Mr Perks should leave the trust, upon that evidence and extreme actions, I am sure your simmering sense of grievance developed into deep anger.

“When you went into your garage, you set about loading your bicycle with everything you would need to break into his home and murder him by burning his house down.

“You were intent on murder.”

When opening the prosecution’s case at trial, Tracy Ayling KC had told the jury it was “clear that the defendant hated Graeme Perks” and wanted him “out of the way”.

He declined to attend his sentencing hearing in person, defying the lawful order given to him, stating healthcare reasons and that the journey from HMP Norwich would make him “ill”.

After being passed fit for court by a medical team, he appeared via video link, but was seen regularly getting up from his chair and walking around the room provided to him for the hearing.

The surgeon was “voluntarily absent” from his month-long trial because he was on hunger strike and said he would “rather be dead than incarcerated”.

Before the trial he had sacked his lawyers and was unrepresented in the case. He had representation at sentencing.

In a victim personal statement from Graeme Perks, the court heard how he suffered from “distressing hallucinations” about house fires and being able to reach his family. The sentencing also heard about the £74,000 of renovations needed to the family home due to fuel contamination.

In the statement, Perks said: “This event has been an unimaginable catastrophe for two families, but a nightmare for my wife and son who must’ve wondered if I was going to survive.

“I have no ill-feelings, hatred or bitterness towards my ex-colleague and derive no satisfaction from the guilty conviction. It is just another interesting chapter in life, and I wish his family well.

“I remain eternally grateful that it was me, not my wife or child, who were stabbed, and reflect how ironic that a Burns Surgeon should wish to immolate our family.”

A personal statement from Perks’ wife, Beverley, told the court of the “night terrors” she still suffers with.

One of Perks’ sons said the attack gives him frequent “flashbacks”.

He said: “They begin with the scent of fuel or the sight of certain knives. I am naked, covered in petrol, and petrified as my father lies dying some distance away while I stand guard.

“I couldn’t comfort him as he bled out, afraid that Peter Brooks would return and ignite the copious amounts of fuel surrounding us.

“The constant fear of an imminent fiery death and the helplessness I felt that night haunt me to this day. Words fail to capture the magnitude of that fear.”

The same son also blamed Brooks for the delay in getting to trial and now sentence.

He added: “This delay in justice I place solely on Peter Brooks and his continued attempts to frustrate justice at every possible juncture.

“I imagine this is nothing more than a cynical attempt to extend his time spent on remand in the hope of reducing his overall sentence.

“These multiple delays have only added to the pain and suffering he has already inflicted.”

After stabbing Graeme Perks, the surgeon fled the scene on his bicycle and returned to his home in Southwell before being found by police in a nearby garden, requiring treatment for hypothermia and a cut hand.

During interviews with detectives he declined to answer any of the questions posed to him, but a blood deposit in the conservatory and on a crowbar he had used to force entry, linked him to the scene.

Blood was also found on the handle of the knife used in the attack.

CCTV footage obtained during the investigation showed Brooks leaving his home shortly before the attack, cycling through snow to Mr Perks’ home in Halam, and returning after carrying it out.

Nottinghamshire Police say they also found his blood, a container of petrol in his bicycle pannier, matches and a lighter in Mr Brooks’ garage.

Defending at sentencing, Steven Lesley KC said: “There was no planning until the day of the attack. He was interested in motorbikes, so it was usual to have petrol in his garage and there was nothing that would’ve been there unusually.

“The fact he has no previous convictions, positive exemplary conduct and we submit somewhat limited remorse, in addition to his mental health, medical conditions and his age, reduce the seriousness and reflect his personal mitigation.

“This was a single occasion of violence. There is still good in him.”

Detective Inspector Matt Scott, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a vicious and calculating attack that very nearly cost a wholly innocent man his life.

“Our contention has always been that Brooks set off that morning with a very clear intention in mind – to fatally injure his victim.

“Over the last four years he and his family have been through an extremely distressing ordeal and I would like to thank them for the enormous courage and dignity they have shown throughout this process.”