'Butcher of Bega', Graeme Reeves, a former gynaecologist found guilty of mutilating a patient's genitalia - removing the clitoris and labia of patient Carolyn DeWaegeneire without her consent - was awarded an appeal by the High Court, unanimously. The case against him was sent back to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.

Apparently, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal did not consider Mr Reeves deteriorating health and the imminent expiry of his non-parole period when it added an extra 18 months to his jail term. NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb upheld this decision.

In 2002, Ms DeWaegeneire, was taken into surgery in Bega Hospital on NSW' south coast to have a 20mm pre-cancerous lesion on her labia.

But when she woke up from the surgery all her external genitalia were removed.

Mr Reeves performed a clitoridectomy instead of removing the small lesion in her vagina. He, however, said in court that he told Ms DeWaegeneire that he will be removing her clitoris as well.

During the operation, the attending nurse objected to remove the genital tissue measuring 95mm by 55mm by 34mm. But Mr Reeves said that the size did not matter because Ms DeWaegeneire had already lost her husband.

The surgery caused a lifetime of agony and nightmare to Ms DeWaegeneire as her urine now gushes like a pond because it now lacked a proper outlet. One gynaecologist told the court that the operation done on Ms DeWaegeneire was already banned 30 years ago because of the terrible deformity it can cause patients.

In the same year in 2002, another patient, Marilyn Hawkins, suffered another malpractice by Mr Reeves.

"He stitched me up like an old blanket...I was in such agony after the operation that I could hardly sit down for about a month. He also stitched up my vagina so tight that I couldn't have sex. Every time I wet myself, I felt like I was crying inside," Ms Hawkins said.

Mr Reeves was also found guilty of sexual abused because of masturbating a patient during a supposedly gynaecological examination.

Attorneys for Mr Reeves defense was that their client was suffering a major clinical disorder, a personality disorder and impotence.