Purported doctor Jie Shao faces jury after admitting to using poison while performing ‘illegal’ breast enlargement procedure on her client

More than six years after the death of a woman who underwent an illegal breast augmentation procedure, the alleged doctor who performed the procedure is facing trial.

Jie Shao flew from China to Australia in August 2017 to perform a breast augmentation on Jean Huang, who operated the Medi Beauty Clinic in the inner Sydney suburb of Chippendale.

Ms Huang died after the procedure, in which hyaluronic acid was injected into her breasts as a filler.

“That was a procedure that was not legally permitted in Australia at the time,” the Crown prosecutor told jurors as Shao’s criminal case began on Thursday.

She was then given a local anesthetic, lidocaine, after Ms Huang raised concerns about how painful the procedure would be, potential jurors heard at Sydney’s Downing Center District Court.

Shao pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter for the unlawful killing of Ms. Huang on September 1, 2017.

However, he pleaded guilty to injuring Ms Huang by administering poison on August 31, 2017.

The Crown prosecutor told potential jurors that the cause of death was a brain injury due to a lidocaine overdose.

Shao told Ms Huang she was a doctor despite not being registered in either China or Australia, the court heard.

The trial continues.