Embryologist jailed after IVF scam

Paul Fielding was found guilty of three charges of assault causing actual bodily harm and eight of false accounting to obtain money by deception in December 2002.

He allowed eight women to undergo operations, mistakenly believing they were having embryos implanted, because he was paid £50 for each procedure.

During the court case it emerged he had debts of £25,000, which he had kept hidden from his wife.

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

All 11 charges related to his work at the private North Hampshire Fertility Centre and the NHS-run Hampshire Clinic, both in Basingstoke, between 1997 and 1999.

Judge John Boggis QC, sentencing Fielding at Southampton Crown Court, said:

"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.

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

" The defendant cuts a pathetic figure...he is a man on the edge and prison will break him "
Defence QC Susan Edwards

"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."

Susan Edwards QC, defending, said Fielding was seriously mentally ill and had lost everything since the investigation and trial.

She told the court he had lost his home and was living in a rented flat.

"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 has lost his family, in particular his children. He has lost his profession and he has lost his social position.

"He is a man on the edge and prison will break him."

Judge Boggis sentenced Fielding to 18 months concurrently on each charge.

Since the case, a compensation claim against the clinic and hospital is being prepared on behalf of 75 men and women who claim they lost embryos in Fielding's deception.