A high-profile Bermuda doctor has called on the courts to rule his “heavy-handed” arrest and a subsequent search of his home was unlawful.

Mahesh Reddy, chief medical officer at Bermuda Healthcare Services, was arrested in May in connection to an investigation into allegations that he ordered unnecessary scans on patients.

However he said the arrest and subsequent search of his home was unlawful, labelling it an attempt to intimidate him to give evidence against Ewart Brown, the former premier, who owns Bermuda Healthcare Services.

In addition to a declaration that his arrest was unlawful, Dr Reddy is calling on the Supreme Court to order the return of items seized during the search, to release him from bail and order for damages for the unlawful arrest.

In the alternative, he is calling on the court to rule that the section of the law used by officers to conduct the search contravenes the constitution.

While police have said the summary arrest and search was lawful, representatives for Dr Reddy said officers should have secured a warrant and that the applicant had been willing to speak with police.

Addressing the court this morning, Lord Peter Goldsmith, QC, argued that the arrest and search was a “pre-planned, heavy-handed raid” intended to intimidate Dr Reddy.

“Why were six, let alone eight officers required to arrest a doctor?” he asked. “If we look at the evidence, it’s clear they intended to search from the start.”

Lord Goldsmith told the court that the police have repeatedly pressured Dr Reddy since an investigation into Bermuda Healthcare Services began in 2012.

On one occasion, Dr Reddy complained that he was stopped by a Homeland Security officer in a United States airport and told that if he did not give evidence against Dr Brown, he would be arrested, prosecuted and deported.

Suggesting that the US authorities acted on the provocation of Bermuda authorities, Lord Goldsmith said: “If that’s true, that’s a particularly egregious thing to have done, to threaten him and his family.”

He also noted that questions had repeatedly been raised by police about Dr Reddy’s credentials, even after the Bermuda Medical Council found it was satisfied with them.

And he questioned the lack of contemporaneous records as to what led to Dr Reddy’s summary arrest, saying that in such circumstances some record as to the decision to make the arrest should be available.

The hearing continues.

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