A doctor has been cleared of performing female genital mutilation (FGM) in the first British case of its kind amid claims he was used as a "scapegoat".
National Health Service doctor Dhanuson Dharmasena, 32, was accused of illegally stitching a young mother up after she gave birth - re-doing the FGM she had as a six year-old in Somalia.
But a jury on Wednesday acquitted him after less than half an hour of deliberations.
Defence barrister Zoe Johnson QC said Dharmasena had "been hung out to dry" and forced to pay the "ultimate price" for hospital failings.
His acquittal will prompt questions about why the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) chose such a marginal case for the UK's first prosecution.
Dr Dharmasena smiled as the jury of five men and seven women delivered its verdict at London's Southwark Crown Court. His friends sat at the back of court and cheered as the verdict was read out.
Share
