Judge jails IVF worker who faked treatment

An embryologist who tricked women into thinking they were having fertilised eggs inserted into their wombs as part of a deception to clear his debts was jailed for 18 months yesterday.

Paul Fielding, 44, allowed eight women to have the operations at the NHS-run North Hampshire Fertility Centre and the private Hampshire Clinic, both in Basingstoke, between 1997 and 1999 even though they had no hope of becoming pregnant.

His job was to retrieve frozen embryos, thaw them and prepare them for implantation, for which he was paid £50 a time. But instead he faked the work and then falsified the records.

After a three-week trial at Southampton Crown Court last month, a jury found Fielding guilty of eight counts of false accounting and three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge John Boggis QC told Fielding yesterday: "As a result of your criminal behaviour every woman going through the anxiety of IVF will be wondering what is going on in the secrecy of an embryologist's lab. These offences are so serious that only a custodial sentence is appropriate. You betrayed the blind trust of these vulnerable women – your crimes were despicable.

"It would have been bad enough if your behaviour had been the result of incompetence but it was dishonesty that motivated you."

Susan Edwards QC, for the defence, said Fielding was seriously mentally ill and had lost his home, his family and his profession since the investigation and trial.

She told the court: "The defendant cuts a pathetic figure. He has already been punished in a way that most of us cannot imagine. His disgrace is complete. He is a man on the edge and prison will break him."

Fielding is facing a civil action for damages by 75 men and women in what is believed to be the biggest compensation claim involving IVF. Lawyers for two of the patients issued proceedings against Fielding and the two clinics yesterday.

The claimants include men who stored their sperm before having radiotherapy for cancer, which can destroy fertility. In some cases patients have lost their chance of conceiving children for ever.

Lawyers for both sides are due to meet later this month to try to agree terms. Legal papers drawn up for the case allege breach of contract.

Ann Bevan, the lawyer leading the action against the hospital and the clinic, said there were difficulties in proving negligence. "The conviction does strengthen our case but it does not change our position and we are not relying on it," she said.

Speaking outside court after the sentence, one of Fielding's victims, Frances Douglas, 44, said: "It's my opinion he has had enough punishment really. I was rather hoping he was going to get a suspended sentence."