Former obstetrician Graeme Reeves found not guilty of manslaughter

He was once dubbed " the butcher of Bega' but today disgraced doctor Graeme Reeves was cleared over the death of a former patient.

The 66-year-old hugged his lawyer after Judge Peter Zahra handed down his not guilty verdict in a judge alone trial in the Sydney District Court.

In May 1996 Kerry Ann McAllister, 38, died in Westmead Hospital from septicaemia just days after giving birth to her third child.

The court heard Reeves who was her treating gynaecologist, ignored nurses concerns about Mrs McAllister’s worsening condition after misdiagnosing her illness.

Reeves wrongly believed the patient was suffering a viral infection and not a bacterial one and failed to prescribe her antibiotics which most likely would have saved her life.

In his judgement, Judge Zahra said "had the accused acted earlier ...Ms McAllister would have survived”.

He said Reeves’ medical failings "significantly contributed to her death" but those actions did not amount to gross criminal negligence warranting criminal punishment.

Reeves refused to comment as he left the court.

The former doctor was jailed for up to a year in 2011 for mutilating a woman's genitals while as an obstetrician at Bega and Pambula hospitals.