The country’s top prosecutor has criticised Police Scotland for taking ‘far too long’ to investigate a surgeon accused of ‘butchering’ his patients in botched operations. Victims alleged to have suffered at the hands of consultant neurologist Sam Eljamel between 1995 and his suspension in 2013 first reported him to police seven years ago.
![[Jules Rose had a tear duct instead of a brain tumour removed by Eljamel]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/20/93439685-14222633-Jules_Rose_had_a_tear_duct_instead_of_a_brain_tumour_removed_by_-m-6_1734987204982.jpg)
But no charges have been brought against the disgraced NHS Tayside surgeon, and his alleged victims claim their trauma is ‘compounded’ every day after learning that he is still operating on patients, including babies, after fleeing to Libya. Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, KC, has now expressed her ‘concern’ at the length of time the investigation is taking.
In a damning letter to lead campaigner Jules Rose, who had a tear duct removed by Eljamel instead of a brain tumour in 2013, the prosecutor said the investigation is a ‘unique case in Scottish legal history’ and ‘simply has not progressed as it should have’.
She said: ‘I fully accept that you are profoundly concerned about the time that has now elapsed – seven years – between the first report to Operation Stringent and where the criminal investigation now sits. I agree that this timescale is far too long.’.
The Lord Advocate explained it was ‘not unusual for the police to investigate cases, sometimes for some considerable time, to establish whether there is criminality’. But she said: ‘I have been concerned for some time about the progress being made in investigating this matter. In September 2023, I met with the police to emphasise my concern that the circumstances should be investigated fully and timeously.’.
