Former GP jailed for life for sexually assaulting patients

A doctor who persuaded women and teenage girls to undertake invasive medical examinations under the guise of genuine need has been jailed for life.

Manish Shah, 53, was convicted of a total of 115 sexual assault offences against 28 female victims over three separate trials at the Central Criminal Court.

Some of his victims were as young as 15 years old.

His crimes first came to light in June 2013 when a 15-year-old girl complained to her parents that Dr Shah had hugged and kissed her.

Another patient said Shah had examined her breasts and tried to conduct her smear test, though she refused.

An investigation brought to light dozens of other victims who Shah had assaulted, often after pressurising them or misleading them about the purpose of the examinations he proposed carrying out.

Through his position as a GP, he abused the trust of his patients, convincing them that they needed further intimate examinations to rule out serious health problems, often ignoring the conditions they had in fact gone to see him about.

Shah was most recently found guilty of 25 sexual assault charges involving four victims on December 14 following his third trial at the Central Criminal Court.

He was given three life sentences in February 2020 with a minimum of 15 years after he was convicted of 90 charges of sexual assault involving 24 patients following trials in 2018 and 2019.

At his first trial in December 2018, Shah was convicted of 65 offences involving 18 victims before a jury found him guilty of a further 25 offences against six victims at his second trial in March 2019.

Today, Shah was given two further life sentences, with a minimum term of 10 years' imprisonment, at the Central Criminal Court.

Paul Goddard, of the CPS, said: “Manish Shah has today been sentenced for sexually assaulting four of his patients, in a gross and devastating breach of his profession and of the trust placed in him.

“The defendant told these women and girls lies about his experience and also about the state of their health, lies designed to convince them that repeated intimate examinations were necessary, and to conceal his true motives in carrying them out.

“These convictions, and the sentences passed, are testament to the strength and courage of the women who gave evidence against the defendant. It is thanks to their bravery and their determination that justice has now been done.”