News24 | Paediatric surgeon Peter Beale found not guilty of murder

Paediatric surgeon Peter Beale has been found not guilty of murder. (Melinda Stuurman/Netwerk24)

Paediatric surgeon Peter Beale has been found not guilty of charges of murder, culpable homicide and fraud levelled against him over the deaths of three children on whom he operated.

Judgment in the long-running case - which saw Beale first arrested and charged in 2019 - was handed down in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Central to the State's case was its argument that Beale had "recklessly and fraudulently undertook unnecessary paediatric surgeries" in order to "re-establish his financial position" after he lost R1.5 million in the infamous Tannenbaum Ponzi scheme.

However, on Tuesday, Judge Thifhelimbilu Mudau found that the State had not been able to prove this and that, without a motive, the case collapsed.

More to follow.

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