Bloodgate doctor admits to cutting Tom Williams's lip

The counsel for Dr Wendy Chapman, the doctor at the centre of the "Bloodgate" hearing, has admitted that she cut the lip of the Harlequins wing Tom Williams with a stitch cutter because the player wanted to demonstrate a "real injury". Williams had earlier bit into a fake-blood capsule to engineer a blood replacement which allowed a substituted specialist kicker back on to the field in the closing minutes of last April's Heineken Cup quarter-final tie against Leinster. Leinster held on though to win 6-5 at the Stoop. Williams told a medical disciplinary hearing today that he had to twice ask the club's matchday doctor to make the incision in the treatment room as he became "extremely panicked" when match officials questioned whether his injury was genuine. Chapman, represented at the hearing by Mary O'Rourke, is appearing before the General Medical Council to face allegations that her conduct in connection with the incident was alleged to be likely to bring the profession into disrepute and was dishonest. In the charge sheet she admits that she "caused [an] injury to TW at his request because he 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 of the Bloodgate affair: "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." Richards was given a three-year ban. It emerged during the ERC hearing that Richards had ordered fake blood injuries on four other occasions and orchestrated the cover-up. Williams' initial 12-month ban was reduced to four months following his admission of the capsule use, while the club was fined £258,000. Dr Chapman, an accident and emergency consultant at Maidstone Hospital in Kent, was cleared of any wrongdoing by the ERC. She is currently suspended from duty pending the outcome of the GMC hearing.