Doctor returns over death of patient

A doctor accused of killing a Burntwood woman with a lethal injection 10 years ago has returned to the UK to face magistrates in Cannock.

Anaesthetist Dr Priya Ramnath is alleged to have injected 51-year-old Patricia Leighton, pictured, with a fatal dose of adrenaline while she was undergoing a routine operation to remove a bunion.

The operation was at Staffordshire General Hospital in 1998. Ramnath appeared before Cannock magistrates yesterday.

The mother-of-two, now aged 39, moved to the US within days of the incident, but following a lengthy investigation and legal wranglings was arrested in November outside the hospital where she was working in Texas.

The doctor waived her right to an extradition hearing in the States earlier this month, and voluntarily returned to the UK from Texas yesterday.

The doctor was granted conditional bail, and is set to appear at Stafford Crown Court next Friday.

Ramnath initially escaped prosecution because the Crown Prosecution Service missed a deadline to apply for her extradition by a matter of days.