Inquest to open over deaths of patients treated by breast surgeon Ian Paterson

Catherine Coyne died from secondary liver cancer in 2008. Paterson had carried out a double mastectomy on her six years earlier when she was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. Photograph: Family handout

When Stuart Coyne received a letter to say his wife’s death, now 16 years ago, was being investigated to see if she had died unnecessarily after being operated on by the disgraced surgeon Ian Paterson, he was taken aback.

“It was a shock; it came out of the blue. When Catherine died, we all thought that she’d had the best treatment for the breast cancer that she had,” said Coyne, 70, who lives in Solihull. “Now, of course, it raises that question – would she still be here today?”