The doctor caught up in the Harlequins fake blood scandal has admitted cutting Tom Williams' lip.
Doctor admits cutting Tom WIlliams' lip during infamous bloodgate scandal
The doctor caught up in the Harlequins fake blood scandal has admitted cutting Tom Williams' lip to cover up the infamous move last year, but the player has also said that he asked for the incision to be made.
Dr Wendy Chapman is appearing in front of a disciplinary hearing in Manchester, which could end her medical career, and she has admitted to most of the charges.
The 46-year-old has admitted administering a cut to Williams' lip, which was done to cover up the use of a fake blood capsule during a European Cup quarter-final against Leinster on April 12, 2009.
Harlequins winger Williams said he had to twice ask Dr Chapman to make the incision in the changing rooms, as he became "extremely panicked" when match officials questioned whether his injury was genuine.
Williams had earlier bit the fake-blood capsule in his mouth to engineer a blood replacement which allowed a substituted specialist kicker back on to the field in the closing minutes of last April's game.
Cut
At the start of the two-week hearing, counsel for Dr Chapman admitted she cut the lip with a stitch cutter and she did so because the player wanted to demonstrate a "real injury".
She also conceded she stated he had a loose tooth - which the player denied - in front of match officials but said her intention was not to deceive others that Williams had sustained an injury.
Dr Chapman, who the panel was told is recovering from a breast cancer operation, admitted the majority of the charges she faced but denied misconduct in relation to why she said Williams had a loose tooth.
She did admit that she failed to tell a European Rugby Cup (ERC) disciplinary
hearing three months after the incident that she had caused the lip injury.
Opening the case for the GMC, Michael Hayton said the European game which Leinster eventually held on to win 6-5, was "high-profile" and of "enormous importance" in terms of prestige and the economic benefits to the tournament winner.
Cheating
"He had been sent on to the field of play and had bitten into a theatrical blood capsule, of a type used in amateur dramatics, to imitate blood," said Hayton. "This was cheating to get the best kicker back on to the field.
"Tom Williams played a part in it. Dean Richards (Harlequins director of rugby) played a part in it. Dr Wendy Chapman did not.
"It is not the case of the General Medical Council that she was party to the planning and the carrying out of the cheating. She had no knowledge or active participation in it."
Her role came in the immediate aftermath of the blood replacement when she
attended to him on the treatment table, he said.
"When Tom Williams came off it was apparent to a number of people that what was coming from his mouth was not blood and it led to disquiet from Leinster officials, as they saw it was a ruse to bring back on Nick Evans.
"There were a number of people at that stage attempting to see what was going on, attempting to confirm or disprove there was a legitimate blood injury.
"There was no doubt that the atmosphere was highly charged. What then took place is that the doctor examined Tom Williams and said he had a loose tooth in the presence of others.
"Then at the request of the player she cut his lip with a stitch cutter to cause an injury. Dr Chapman has admitted that the purpose was to justify his replacement."
