LONDON (AP) — A jury in central England has found a prominent breast surgeon guilty of carrying out unnecessary operations.

The Nottingham Crown Court jury found Ian Paterson guilty on Friday of 17 counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and three counts of unlawful wounding. Prosecutors say the 59-year-old doctor lied to patients or exaggerated their risk of cancer to persuade them to have surgery.

Hundreds of Paterson's patients were recalled in 2012 after concerns about unnecessary or incomplete operations.

He performed the surgeries between 1997 and 2011. Nine women and one man testified about the procedures.

One patient, Frances Perks, who underwent an unnecessary mastectomy, hopes he "rots in hell."

She says: "He's a psychopath. Why would anyone in their right mind do operations to people knowing that they didn't need them?"