Peter Brooks. (Image: Tom Maddick/SWNS)
A plastic surgeon who dressed in military camouflage gear before breaking into a medical colleague’s £1m home in the middle of the night and plunged a knife into his stomach after failing to burn his house down, has been jailed for a minimum of 22 years.
Peter Brooks, 61, attacked fellow plastic surgeon Graeme Perks, whom he was said to have “hated” after Mr Perks gave evidence in long-running disciplinary proceedings at the NHS Trust they both worked for. Today he was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years to be spent behind bars after being convicted of two counts of attempted murder, attempted arson with intent to endanger life, and possession of a knife in a public place, after he knifed former colleague Graeme Perks in the early hours of January 14 2021.
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Graeme Perks (Image: -)
In a desperate bid to get his rival “out of the way”, Brooks cycled a mile from his family home in snowy conditions, armed with a jerry can full of a highly-flammable petrol mixture, which he spread around the lower staircase of the home after smashing his way in through Mr Perks’ conservatory.
But the father-of-four instead used his knife on the recently retired Mr Perks, then 65, after the victim was woken by a loud bang and ran naked downstairs to confront the intruder.
The “narcissistic” surgeon had continually attempted to derail legal proceedings since the January 2021 attack, causing the trial to be scheduled nine times before Brooks was eventually brought to justice.
Ahead of the trial which began in March, Brooks sacked his latest legal team in February, then went on hunger strike and failed to attend proceedings at Leicester Crown Court.
During the trial, Brooks claimed it would be “inhumane” if the judge to force him to attend court in his current condition.
Mr Perks family home. (Image: Tom Maddick / SWNS)
Plastic surgeon Peter Brooks found guilty of attempting to murder former boss Brooks cycled to Graem. (Image: -)
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Brooks – who is now virtually bed bound – had previously vowed to a psychiatrist that he would starve himself to death if he was convicted.
The surgeon, who uses his middle name, has worked in New Zealand and Australia, but moved back to the UK so his four children could benefit from a British education.
The family first rented a red-brick home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, before moving to Southwell in Nottinghamshire, in 2008, after Brooks landed position in the burns unit at Nottingham’s City Hospital.
He reportedly fell out with neighbours over building works and boundary issues and took exception to one resident’s Rowan tree which he claimed carried berries that could poison his children.
Brooks also had a collection of vintage and modern motorcycles which he would rev on his driveway or ride up and down the street, and was said to have become embroiled in a dispute with another neighbour over three inches of land on the boundary between their two homes.
But by July 2015, Brooks launched tribunal proceedings after he was excluded from the wards following complaints from staff at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust who said they were unable to work with him.
Shock in Halam, Notts as plastic surgeon, 65, fights for life after stabbing in home. (Image: Nottingham Post/Marie Wilson)
Retired surgeon Graeme Perks leaving Loughborough Magistrates’ Court after giving evidence at the tr (Image: PA)
At the hearings Brooks claims Mr Perks, his line manager as head of the department of plastic, reconstructive and burns surgery, had negotiated a “job plan” which left him working at the hospital just “60% of the time”, which Brooks alleged allowed Mr Perks to “maximise his private sector income”.
He added: “My impression that resources were being diverted from burns work to breast work under Mr Perks’ tenure. That was leaving the burns service short of resources.”
The plastic surgeon claimed a “lack of adequate medical cover” left him concerned about patient safety, and said he had been effectively suspended for whistleblowing, but ultimately lost his case, and with it a claim for £500,000 compensation.
During his trial Ms Ayling said Brooks’ decision to “take the law into his own hands” came just three days after the final part of the disciplinary process against the defendant began.
The disciplinary hearing took place online as the country was in the middle of the third national coronavirus lockdown at the time and Brooks had tried to get this final hearing postponed a day before the alleged attack, a request which was refused.
Ms Ayling told the jury: “One possible outcome of the hearing might have been his dismissal from the Nottingham University NHS Trust.
“Statements from Graeme Perks formed part of the evidence in those proceedings.”
She said that Brooks was “clearly frustrated” by the disciplinary proceedings and had “made a conscious decision to take the law into his own hands.”
Ms Ayling added: “His intention was, say the Crown, to break into Mr Perks house, set fire to it and if necessary, stab Mr Perks. In short, he intended to kill Mr Perks by either or both those means. The use of fire, or the use of a knife.’
The court, sitting in Loughborough, heard that a police sniffer dog indicated fuel had been splashed up the first five steps on the staircase of the home in Halam, Nottinghamshire, where Mr Perks, then 65, his wife Beverley and son Henry, 29, were sleeping.
The prosecutor added: “The only exit point for those sleeping upstairs would have been the stairs.
“A fire raging downstairs and on the stairs would also have spread. The purpose must have been to kill those in the property and to make sure, stop them escaping down the staircase.”
Mr Perks was stabbed through the abdomen and was taken to hospital after being discovered by his wife and son, a Royal Engineer Commando who was home on leave.
The court heard Mr Perks was left with his “guts sticking out” and only survived thanks to the “quick action and amazing surgical skill”.
A doctor who operated on the stab victim at Nottingham’s Queens Medical Centre and told the court the injury would have been fatal in 95% of cases.
Brooks was arrested later that morning after being discovered asleep and bleeding from the hand on a bench in a communal garden in Southwell.
When interviewed under caution he gave no comment answers to every question.
An earlier trial was halted in the summer of 2022 when Brooks developed medical complications from previous radiotherapy treatment, and Brooks sacked his legal team just days before the start of this year’s trial.
Sam Shallow from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Peter Brooks committed an act of extreme violence, attempting to murder a highly respected colleague. This was a planned, calculated attack, in which Brooks showed he was determined to kill his former colleague.
“Since committing these atrocious acts, Brooks has sought to evade responsibility. He has requested late adjournments, dispensed with his legal team, and used his health to avoid proper progress of the court proceedings. On each of the nine occasions the case has been listed at court, the prosecution team has been ready.
“Justice has now caught up with Brooks.
“His victim was fortunate to escape with his life and his whole family were in danger from Brooks’s inexplicable actions. Despite the physical and emotional trauma they have endured, they have come to court to tell their story on two separate occasions. This has been a long process for them, but I hope that finally seeing these proceedings coming to a close will help them in their recovery from this ordeal.”