Man who carried out 'barbaric' circumcision on baby boy jailed for three years

Philip Ogbewe, who is from Nigeria but has been living in Ireland for 20 years, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment of life

A man has been jailed for three years for carrying out a “barbaric” circumcision without anaesthetic on a baby boy.

The 10-month-old child needed emergency medical attention and was hospitalised for two weeks.

Father-of-six Philip Ogbewe, who is from Nigeria but has been living in Ireland for 20 years, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment of life.

At Longford Circuit Criminal Court today, the 55-year-old received a four-year sentence from Judge Keenan Johnson, the last 12 months of which were suspended.

The offence was committed at the infant’s home in the Midlands on December 4, 2015.

The baby was bleeding heavily afterwards and was rushed to the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar before he was transferred to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin. He has made a full recovery.

The court heard the child’s mother had sought the procedure and thought Ogbewe, a grocer and fridge technician, was a doctor.

She paid him €200 and he performed the circumcision with a small knife. He had arrived at her home wearing a stethoscope.

Judge Johnson said: “It is a barbaric act of cruelty, there is no question about it, on a 10-month old, even allowing for cultural norms.” The court heard the defendant, who called himself Doctor Philip, had been known in his community for carrying out circumcisions since he was in his mid-teens.

The judge added Ogbewe, from Green Lanes in Drogheda, Co Louth, continued the procedures while on bail which was revoked in November.