MORE than anything else, Karen wants to hear Richard Neale say sorry. For 12 years the mother-of-two has been trying - and largely failing - to cope with waves of anger, self-recrimination and grief which followed the death of her first baby.

Like many mothers in her position, she blamed herself for what happened.

But horror stories about the exploits of the Northallerton consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist who was in charge during her labour made her question what really happened.

This week Karen (not her real name), who is in her mid-thirties and lives in North Yorkshire, met officials at The Friarage Hospital in Northallerton and read the medical notes about the birth that went terribly wrong.

Now she is convinced that her baby's death should never have happened - that her son would have been alive and well today if Mr Neale had recognised the danger signs and delivered her baby by Caesarean section, instead of leaving her in labour for four hours.

According to Karen, her unborn baby's heartbeat became dangerously low during the final stages of her labour.

The midwife attending her became concerned at the persistent low foetal heartbeat - which indicates that the baby's brain may be being starved of oxygen - and is alleged to have repeatedly requested Mr Neale to perform a Caesarean section.

Karen believes her baby's heartbeat remained dangerously low for four hours before she eventually gave birth naturally.

Despite the efforts of maternity staff at The Friarage, her new-born son became seriously ill, suffered a succession of fits and died only two days after he was born.

Aware of the difficulties during her labour, Karen's mother contacted The Friarage and arranged to meet Mr Neale.

He reassured her that everything had been under control and nothing could have been done to save the baby.

Karen tried to accept what she had been told and attempted to rebuild her life. Twelve years have passed since her baby died and in that time she has had two more children, a boy and a girl.

But throughout those intervening years she has relived the horrors of her first experience of birth.

Solicitor Simon John, who has taken on Karen's case, says his client appears to have all the classic signs of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"She sounds tragically typical of many others in the same situation. The victims of mass tragedies frequently suffer from post traumatic stress disorder but it is also experienced on an individual basis as well.

"Typical signs are flashbacks which come involuntarily. She has nightmares, depression and has constantly chewed over it ever since it happened," says Mr John, whose firm has a national reputation for achieving high damage pay-outs in medical negligence cases.

"The feeling that you are not able to face up to something is an absolute classic. I have had a number of cases - four in the last ten years - of people who have waited up to 30 years before they can come forward," he adds.

Karen moved a step towards facing what went wrong and coming to terms with the tragedy when she met a senior doctor at The Friarage Hospital last week.

She was left in no doubt that the death of her baby could have been avoided and immediately approached the Neale victim support group. The group passed her on to Mr John's nationally-known firm of specialist solicitors, Cunningham John.

"Karen's mother now feels terribly guilty for being duped by Mr Neale. She is not alone. He was a master of deception," says Mr John. As an example he refers to the surgeon's own admission before the General Medical Council's disciplinary committee this summer that he had lied about a gold medal he claimed he had been given. While Mr Neale had been awarded a small cash prize by a royal medical college, he admitted going out and buying an antique gold medal and then putting it on his CV.

The committee went on to find 34 out of 35 "facts proven" against the 52-year-old consultant before striking him off the UK medical register.

He was found guilty of performing operations without consent, of sub-standard surgery, unnecessary procedures and failing to inform his patients' GPs of complications resulting from his incompetence.

Now a mother believes his failure to act led to the death of her baby.

"I found out that many other people who complained to Mr Neale were sold a dummy. He was capable of turning on the charm and deceiving people," says Mr John.

One of the motives for Karen coming forward at this late stage is to encourage others who may have suffered at the surgeon's hands to make themselves known.

"She is happy to tell her story if it helps other people," says Mr John.

While Karen will be seeking compensation from Mr Neale's employers, there is one thing above all she wants to see.

Mr John adds: "One of her major aims is to meet Mr Neale and to have him personally apologise for what happened, but she doesn't believe that will happen."

Simon John is personally manning a freephone telephone this Sunday to deal with any calls from women who may have concerns about Mr Neale in the light of the latest revelation. The number is 0800 616299.