A doctor is likely to be struck off the medical register after he fled to Bosnia following his arrest on suspicion of killing a baby girl, The Times has learnt.

Vladan Visnjevac, who is believed to be still in hiding in Bosnia, was arrested after the death of Hollie Dinning at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey, in July 2002.

A junior doctor at the time, he was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter two months after he delivered the baby using forceps. Hollie died of head injuries hours after being delivered.

Dr Visnjevac had returned to Bosnia by December that year, telling his employers, Bupa, that his departure was because of family illness.

Surrey Police said it had been trying to extradite him but was facing resistance from Bosnian authorities.

Dr Visnjevac was suspended by the General Medical Council after his arrest. At a “fitness to practise” hearing, starting today, the council will investigate claims that he acted irresponsibly and inappropriately during the baby’s delivery. The hearing, which will continue in his absence, can ban him from working in Britain.

Hollie’s family, who have now lost three members at the same maternity unit, said yesterday that Dr Visnjevac’s continuing absence was leaving their “lives in limbo”.

The baby’s father, Jim Dinning, lost his former partner, Caroline Freeman, and their unborn child, Chloe-Jade, in 2000 due to failings by the hospital.

Hollie’s mother, Tracey Dinning, 40, said at the family home in Chertsey: “There has been no inquest, no death certificate or anything. No one can do or say anything that will bring Hollie back, but this is an open-ended book until justice has been dealt with.”

Dr Visnjevac, who was 49 at the time of his arrest, was a locum doctor supplied by Healthcare Professionals, a subsidiary of Bupa. He was arrested when Surrey police were asked to investigate after a post-mortem examination. Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Trust suspended him, but still wrote to Healthcare Professionals agreeing to support him. It withdrew Dr Visnjevac’s employment only in December 2002.

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