A gynaecologist who escaped a ban after he botched an abortion at a Birmingham clinic appeared before a General Medical Council panel yesterday to try and get restrictions imposed on him removed.

Dr Andrew Gbinigie, aged 50, caused horrific injuries to a 21-year-old woman on his first day at the Calthorpe Clinic in Edgbaston in November 2000, the GMC heard.

He ripped a hole in her womb, removed an ovary, tore away part of a kidney and pulled down a piece of bowel before realising his mistake.

The woman, known only as Miss A, needed five hours of emergency surgery after the operation.

Father-of-three Dr Gbinigie was found guilty of serious professional misconduct in March 2003. He was kept on the medical register but the GMC ruled he could only continue practising under a string of conditions.

A second GMC hearing into his performance was held after 35 women came forward following the initial ruling and claimed they had suffered at Dr Gbinigie's hands.

Fifteen of the women agreed to give evidence to the second hearing, which lasted five months, but in January Dr Gbinigie was told he could keep his place on the medical register.

Dr Gbinigie, of Barnt Green, Worcestershire, is now claiming the restrictions imposed on him following the hearing in 2003 should be removed.

Zoe Johnson, for the GMC, told the panel that Gbinigie had a lack of experience in performing terminations beyond 16 weeks when he operated on Miss A, who was 20 weeks pregnant.

She said: "The procedure began normally and using forceps Dr Gbinigie removed two limbs then removed tissue which neither the doctor nor the sister recognised.

"It turned out to be an ovary which any competent doctor would have recognised. He carried on operating when the procedure should have stopped.

"He pulled down some bowel and at this point the theatre sister was somewhat surprised and questioned him. He asked for another doctor to help him repair Miss A's perforated uterus.

"The sister called a halt to the operation and organised for her to be transferred to Birmingham Women's Hospital."

Surgeons found Miss A's womb and fallopian tube had been damaged, an ovary was missing, and the ureter - a tube connecting the right kidney to the bladder - had been removed.

"They had to remove a piece of damaged bowel and the whole right kidney because of the scale of the injuries. There was a rip in her uterus."

She continued: "Miss A was removed to intensive care and made a reasonable recovery. But if it were not for the skill of the Birmingham doctors she may have died.

"The operation performed on Miss A was beyond this doctor's clinical competence and experience."

Gbinigie left the hospital immediately but was back at work at another clinic two days later, the hearing heard.

He has not been employed since he was sacked from his role as a locum at Liverpool Women's Hospital in August 2003 after complaints were received from 15 women following his initial GMC hearing. The hearing continues.