National Health Service (NHS) doctor Manish Shah has been found guilty of sexually assaulting “dozens” of female patients while practising in London.
50-year-old Shah, of Brunel Close, Romford, was convicted of nine counts of sexual assault and 16 counts of sexual assault by penetration.
He had previously been convicted of multiple offences of sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by touching against 17 other women in a December 2018 trial, details of which were subject to reporting restrictions until now.
All told, according to a Metropolitan Police statement, Shah was convicted for offences perpetrated against “a total of more than 20 female victims, aged in their 20s and 30s” over the two trials, having duped them into “regular breast and vaginal examinations” for which there was “no clinical need” at the Mawney Medical Centre in east London.
“Shah was a long-serving doctor who was well-known in the community, and trusted and liked by his patients, many who had him as their GP for many years,” commented Acting Detective Superintendent Richard McDonagh for the Central Specialist Crime team at the Metropolitan Police.
“They were unaware that Shah was carrying out unnecessary, invasive examinations on female patients for his own sexual gratification, after giving his victims misleading clinical advice. These offences are particularly grave due to Shah’s abuse of his position, and of the trust placed in him as a family doctor.
“Today’s conviction is the culmination of a huge amount of work on what was a complex, sensitive investigation which was supported by NHS England. I would like to acknowledge the women who were victims of Shah, and who supported the prosecution and gave evidence at Shah’s trials. Without their evidence, Shah may not have been brought to justice, but the weight of evidence against him at both trials was overwhelming.”
Shah will be sentenced on February 7th 2020.