A Royton doctor who killed a mother-of-three during a routine procedure at The Royal Oldham Hospital has been jailed.

Dr Isyaka Mamman, of Cumberland Drive, killed Shahida Parveen, 48, during a routine bone marrow procedure in 2018.

The 85-year-old former doctor, who pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter, had already been suspended for lying about his age, with colleagues claiming he should have retired after botching a similar procedure three years earlier.

During the first day of sentencing at Manchester Crown Court on Monday (July 4), prosecutor Andrew Thomas told the court that on September 3, 2018, Ms Parveen attended The Royal Oldham Hospital with her husband, Khizar Mahmood for a bone marrow biopsy.

She was seen by Mamman, without a chaperone, who was working as a speciality doctor in haematology.

During the procedure, Mamman, then 81, failed to obtain a sample of bone marrow from Ms Parveen’s hip bone, where samples are normally taken from, and made the “hasty decision” to take a sample from her sternum instead, a “dangerous” procedure that is “rarely used” in the UK.

He told Ms Parveen to “roll onto her back”. She and her husband both protested but he continued, telling Ms Parveen “not to worry he had 40 years’ experience”.

Mamman used the same needle he had tried to insert into her hip bone and Ms Parveen lost consciousness immediately.

According to a statement heard by the court, from a nurse who was working at a desk close to the examination room, Ms Parveen’s husband Mahmood came “running out” saying: “He killed her. I told him to stop three times and he didn’t. He killed her”.

Mamman had inserted the wrong biopsy needle too low and “completely missed” Ms Parveen’s sternum.

The biopsy needle pierced her pericardium, the sac containing the heart, causing massive internal bleeding.

Despite extensive resuscitation, Ms Parveen was pronounced dead shortly after the procedure.

Mamman gave no reaction as he was jailed but his family wept in the public gallery.

Commenting on the incident, Mrs Justice Yip said that it was “hard to imagine the trauma” experienced by Ms Parveen’s husband Mr Mahmood as he witnessed “the unfolding horror” of the incident which he “relives every day”.

Within his victim impact statement read to the court on Monday Mr Mahmood also claimed that he had “begged” Mamman to stop during the procedure and that his wife was “screaming”.

She described Ms Parveen as a “loving mother and much-loved family woman” whose focus was on caring for her husband and three children, adding that it was sad Ms Paveen never got to meet her first grandchild.

Mrs Justice criticised both the defendant and The Pennine Acute Trust, which ran The Royal Oldham Hospital at the time, saying there is a “troubling background” to the case with the doctor’s age and two prior critical incidents in 2015.

The court heard that Mamman had left his previous employment with the Medway Trust because of “poor performance” and that he had already been suspended once by medical watchdogs for lying about his age in 2004 and was sacked but then re-employed by the Royal Oldham Hospital in 2006, where he was responsible for a series of critical incidents.

In 2015, a formal complaint was made to The Royal Oldham Hospital when a patient complained Mamman used “excessive force” during a bone marrow biopsy and caused “considerable pain”.

According to the complaint, Mamman attempted to reinsert a “bent needle” and at one point used his knee “as leverage”.

He caused “pain and distress” but no lasting harm.

The complainant alleged that she was told by Mamman’s colleagues that he “should retire” but could not be dismissed only on his age and would be put on “light duties”.

Then in 2016, another patient treated by Mamman was left “permanently disabled” after a needle penetrated his groin area during a bone marrow biopsy and he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Mrs Justice said: “It is hard to understand why these incidents did not lead to your retirement.

“Equally it is difficult to see why the trust did not do more and why you were allowed to continue to work.

“Sadly, there were failings in the system.

“It is very sad to see a long career in medicine end in such dreadful circumstances.”

Mrs Justice added that an investigation following Ms Parveen’s death had found “serious failings” and material action had been taken by the trust.

Outside court, Detective Inspector Rachel Smith, of Greater Manchester Police’s Major Incident Team, said: “It is tragic that someone who attended the hospital for a diagnostic procedure to plan their treatment and, ultimately, make them feel better ended up dying at the hands of a doctor.

“Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family and loved ones.”

Dr Chris Brookes, deputy chief executive for the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which now runs the Oldham Royal Hospital, said: “We wish again to offer our sincerest condolences to Mrs Parveen’s family and friends and we are deeply sorry for their loss.

“We would like to reiterate our sincere apology previously provided to Mrs Parveen’s family. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to them.

“The trust has admitted liability in relation to a civil claim brought by the family.”