A UK GP is facing jail after molesting 23 female patients whom he persuaded to have unnecessary examinations, reports The Guardian. Dr Manish Shah used the cases of Angelina Jolie and Jade Goody to prey on the cancer concerns of patients as young as 17 and scare them into being examined for his sexual gratification, the Old Bailey heard.
Between May 2009 and June 2013, he assaulted six patients at Mawney Medical Centre in Romford, east London, the court was told.
The report says Shah denies wrongdoing, claiming he had been practising “defensive medicine”. But after a trial, he was found guilty of 25 sexual offences.
The jury was told Shah had already been convicted of similar allegations relating to 17 other women, bringing the total number of victims to 23. The judge, Anne Molyneux, adjourned sentencing for all the offences until 7 February.
The prosecutor, Kate Bex QC, told jurors Shah played on the women’s fear of cancer in order to win their consent to examinations, but without being properly informed. Some of the victims were particularly vulnerable because of their young age or because of a family history of the disease. “Fear is an incredible motivator and few health concerns are scarier than cancer. Dr Shah exploited that and used it for his own personal gratification,” Bex said.
Shah’s barrister, Zoe Johnson QC, told jurors he was a “cautious, insecure, perhaps at times incompetent GP”.
[link url="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/10/disgraced-gp-manish-shah-faces-jail-for-sex-assaults-on-23-women-and-girls"]The Guardian report[/link]