Surgeon Peter Beale found not guilty of murder

JOHANNESBURG - Paediatric surgeon, Peter Beale, has been found not guilty for the murder of three children and two counts of fraud. 

Judgment was handed down in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday afternoon. 

Beale operated on the children, aged three, twenty-one months and ten in 2012, 2016 and 2019, respectively. 

A six-year court battle which divided the medical fraternity has finally come to an end. 

Beale was found not guilty for the murder of three of his minor patients who died shortly after he operated on them. 

The children, the youngest being 21 months old, underwent surgeries by Beale in 2012, 2016 and 2019, respectively. 

Beale was subsequently arrested and charged in 2019 after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) combined the dockets and sought to take him to task. 

In a scathing three-hour long judgment, Judge Mudau, poked holes in the case of the state, saying they failed to present a solid case beyond a reasonable doubt in respect of the charges against Beale.