LONDON, Jan 11: An Indian-origin doctor has received two life sentences by a UK criminal court in addition to the three he was already serving for sexually assaulting 28 women over a period of four years, according to a media report.
Manish Shah, 53, was on Monday sentenced to two life terms with a minimum of 10 years after he was found guilty in a trial last month of 25 sexual assaults against four women at his clinic in east London, the BBC reported.
The former General Practitioner was already serving three life sentences for 90 previous offences. The further jail terms will run concurrently with the earlier sentences.
Shah is now convicted of 115 offences of sexual assault against 28 women aged between 15 and 34.
The trial heard that Shah used high-profile cases of celebrities to persuade female patients to undergo unnecessary intimate examinations for his sexual gratification over four years from 2009.
Sentencing at the Central Criminal Court, Judge Peter Rook said that Shah remained a “danger to women” and his behaviour caused “long-term psychological damage” to his victims, the BBC reported.
During the December trial, the court was told that Shah presented himself as a caring and considerate doctor prepared to go “above and beyond” for his patients by carrying out extra examinations.
But prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC described how the doctor “manipulated and abused” women, according to the report.
In a victim impact statement, Shah’s youngest victim, aged 15 at the time of the abuse, said that he told her that she was his “favourite” and “would do well in modelling” while also warning her she might get cancer.
She called on Shah to acknowledge the “mind-blowing” damage he caused by his “sick and twisted” behaviour.
Another victim said Shah’s failure to admit his wrongdoings made things worse. “He just put me through more and more trauma. He preyed on the vulnerable,” she was quoted as saying in the report.
During a 2020 trial, Shah denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the assaults were “defensive medicine”.
In 2020 Shah was given three life sentences for 90 sexual assaults on female patients.
At an earlier trial in 2018, he was convicted of offences relating to 18 people, bringing the total number of offences to 90 relating to 23 patients.
The December trial brought the number of victims to 28. (PTI)
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