EX-DOCTOR JAILED FOR CRUEL CIRCUMCISIONS ON CHILDREN

A former doctor has received a jail sentence of five years and seven months after admitting to causing "painful cruelty to children" through his mobile circumcision service. Mohammad Siddiqui, aged 58 and based in Birmingham, was a practicing doctor at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, but he started visiting homes to perform circumcisions for financial gain. Although he was suspended and later removed from the General Medical Council (GMC) register, he proceeded with these procedures which, according to prosecutors, "ignored basic hygiene rules."

He pleaded guilty last October to 25 charges, including assault occasioning actual bodily harm and cruelty to a person under 16. The charges spanned offences committed across southern England and the West Midlands, including areas such as Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Berkshire, Birmingham, Worcestershire, and London. During court proceedings, it was revealed that some procedures left children in "screaming agony" and resulted in hospitalizations, with one boy nearly dying. Victim impact statements highlighted the abuse of power, with one stating: "There can be an inbuilt deference towards those perceived as possessing high social status, such as doctors," and describing Siddiqui’s brazen conduct. Another victim's family said Siddiqui "knew what he was doing wrong" and should have "known better."

From June 2012 to November 2013, Siddiqui operated a private mobile circumcision service, sourcing anesthetic while working in pediatric surgery within an NHS trust. The court heard that he performed non-therapeutic circumcisions on boys up to age 14, using rusty, unsterilized tools, and providing insufficient pain relief. Despite being struck off the GMC register in 2015 after failures in four cases, he continued his service because non-therapeutic male circumcision is unregulated and not required to be performed by a licensed medical professional. Prosecutor Ben Douglas-Jones KC described how Siddiqui "ran his service as quickly as possible to maximize profits," "cut corners," and "caused unnecessary pain, suffering, cruelty and risk." An investigator from Hampshire Police, Damon Kennard, commented that Siddiqui "appeared entirely indifferent to the risk and suffering he was subjecting children to, betraying the trust of parents." The Crown Prosecution Service added that Siddiqui practised unsanitary procedures and inflicted emotional and physical scars on children, displaying a complete disregard for the impact on victims and community confidence. He was sentenced to 5 years and 7 months in prison based on his guilt and the harm caused to children.