Victims of doctor face huge legal bills

VICTIMS of a disgraced British gynaecologist, who fled to Co Cork following a series of botched operations, now face the further nightmare of massive legal bills because their bid for compensation has collapsed.

A total of 37 women who claimed they were sexually assaulted by Dr Rodney Ledward have been left with large legal bills, as a result of mistakes made by solicitor Jane Loveday, which led to their High Court bid for compensation collapsing.

The Law Society in England has shut down Ms Loveday’s firm and is investigating whether she should be struck off. At the time of the court case, the judge expressed “enormous concern” over her conduct.

Although Ms Loveday represented 59 women, 22 of them will not be billed because they were on legal aid.

One woman, left with permanent pain and discomfort from a botched operation, has received a bill for more than stg£14,000.

One of Ledward’s victims has tried to commit suicide. Nine months after his death several women claimed they were sexually assaulted by the 62-year-old doctor in Kent hospitals over a 15-year period.

After fleeing England, Ledward bought a bungalow in a remote area near the village of Dromahane in north Cork. He died of cancer in October 2000.

A retired Kent policeman said he saw Ledward in a Spanish taverna a few months after he was supposed to have been buried.