This was the first Modern Slavery Act conspiracy to harvest organs conviction. It is legal to donate a kidney, but it is illegal to receive money or other material benefits in exchange.
A Nigerian senator, his wife, and a medical “middleman” were imprisoned for conspiring to transport a market trader to the United Kingdom for kidney harvesting.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, and his wife Beatrice, 56, were accused of conspiring to transport a man from Lagos to the United Kingdom so that he could donate an organ to their 25-year-old daughter Sonia Ekweremadu.
The couple and medical “middleman” Dr. Obinna Obeta, 50, were judged guilty in March by the Old Bailey.
Sonia Ekweremadu, who suffers from a severe kidney condition, wept in court when she was exonerated of the same charge.
At a sentencing hearing on Friday, Ekweremadu was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, his wife Beatrice to four years and six months, and Obeta to ten years in prison.
Mr. Justice Johnson stated to the defendants, “In each of your cases, the crime you have committed is so grave that neither a fine nor a community sentence is appropriate.”
The 21-year-old market trader allegedly received £80,000 for donating an organ in a private procedure at London’s Royal Free Hospital.
The prosecution claimed the donor, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was promised a better existence in the United Kingdom in exchange for up to £7,000.
The donor was unaware of his kidney transplant until his first specialist appointment, according to the Old Bailey.
According to the consultant, he had a “limited understanding” of why he was there and appeared “visibly relieved” when he was informed that the operation would not proceed.
The man posed as Sonia Ekweremadu’s cousin to persuade Royal Free Hospital doctors to do the surgery.
The defendant’s ‘intended harm’ to the donor.
Regarding the victim’s injury, the judge stated, “The transplant did not occur, but each defendant intended for it to occur. And each defendant intended the harm to the donor that would result.”
He would have lived with one kidney and no aftercare without cash.
He stated that the victim was not fully informed of the dangers and had not given meaningful permission.
The Ekweremadus of Willesden Green, northwest London, and Dr. Obeta of Southwark, south London, denied the charge against them.
Sonia Ekweremadu, who undergoes weekly dialysis, declined to testify. But it was stated on her behalf that she was unaware of a reward offered to donors.
This was the first Modern Slavery Act conspiracy to harvest organs conviction.
It is legal to donate a kidney, but it is illegal to receive money or other material benefits in exchange.
