AUG 2024
Piers Norsworthy, representing Korambayil, said that since his conviction he has worked in a charity shop. He said: “He has a deep-rooted family history in the public service and the public has been deprived of a good surgeon as a result of his actions.”
A rapist surgeon described as having a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ split-personality has been sentenced for more offences, after being jailed for 14 years for raping two women. He accessed patient records to get more information about women before going on to rape one of them, a court heard today.
Salil Korambayil, 32, who is currently serving a prison sentence for raping two women, having been found guilty in December 2023, has been sentenced to more jail time over the other offences. It’s after he accessed patient records without authorisation while working for the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust.
Korambayil, of HMP The Verne in Dorset, formerly of Red Hill in Surrey, appeared at Truro Crown Court in December for sentence having been convicted by a jury of three rapes. Reporting restrictions put in place at the time mean that case can only now be reported. The previous charges related to two incidents, one in Truro in March 2021, and one in Barnstaple, Devon, in August 2020.
At the December sentencing hearing, victim impact statements were read on behalf of each complainant. The first spoke of suffering depression and feeling like she can’t go out anymore as a result of Korambayil’s actions. She said that she wakes up during the night, suffers constant mood swings and has cut herself off from her friends.
The second complainant described herself as previously being resilient, vivacious and loved by her circle of friends. She said that she was sassy and assertive in her dating life, but that all changed following the attack from Korambayil. She added that she now wakes up each morning crying, suffers flashbacks and struggles to function beyond basic survival. She has stopped eating and taken deliberate risks such as mixing medication and alcohol. She said the rape committed by someone who betrayed his position of trust “has caused a ripple effect that has tainted every area of my life” and that her home is “forever tainted”.
Sentencing Korambayil, Judge Simon Carr said: “One thing that struck me during the trial is that you present as a confident, clever, articulate and smart individual. You show kindness and have demonstrated a good ability as a surgeon. You are the epitome of a Jekyll and Hyde character. There is a dark side to you that you keep from people and that side committed these rapes. Never has the saying been truer that there’s no such thing as an average rapist and that they come in all shapes and sizes.
“You were in your 30s and deliberately targeted two women you knew were much older. You spent over a year grooming them, complimenting them to a fault. You complimented their looks, ability and character, making sure they remembered you were a surgeon and could be trusted.”
Judge Carr added: “The effect of your attacks will probably be lifelong. This happened in their own homes where they were entitled to feel safe.”
Korambayil appeared again today (Thursday, August 20) at Truro Crown Court from prison where he pleaded guilty to one count of securing unauthorised access to computerised material and one of unlawfully obtaining personal data.
It heard he accessed data he should not have while in a position of trust between January 26, 2020 and April 1, 2020, while working at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple. He also accessed the personal data of numerous patients between October 1, 2019, and October 31, 2020.
The court heard how he accessed data such as telephone numbers, email addresses and addresses of various patients including women he had been flirting and engaging with on social media. He went on to rape one of the women whose data he had accessed without authorisation or permission.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/nine-devon-criminals-who-hid-9663054?