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Doctor Michael Salmon guilty of indecent assaults | Doctor Michael Salmon guilty of indecent assaults |
(35 minutes later) | |
Former doctor Michael Salmon has been found guilty of indecently assaulting girls at a hospital where Jimmy Savile abused patients. | Former doctor Michael Salmon has been found guilty of indecently assaulting girls at a hospital where Jimmy Savile abused patients. |
The 79-year-old was convicted of nine indecent assaults and two rapes carried out against six girls at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. | The 79-year-old was convicted of nine indecent assaults and two rapes carried out against six girls at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. |
Reading Crown Court heard the attacks took place between 1973 and 1988. | Reading Crown Court heard the attacks took place between 1973 and 1988. |
Police said more women had contacted them with allegations against Salmon since the start of the trial. | |
The former doctor, of Salisbury in Wiltshire, was struck off the medical register in 1991. | |
The court heard Salmon carried out many of his attacks behind a screen in his consulting room, while his victim's parents waited, believing he was completing a medical examination. | |
He raped a 16-year-old patient on two separate occasions in his bedroom after she turned to him for help, believing she was pregnant. | He raped a 16-year-old patient on two separate occasions in his bedroom after she turned to him for help, believing she was pregnant. |
He touched the breasts of young girls "with the pretence of listening to their heart" and carried out intimate examinations for which there was no medical need, without a nurse present and without wearing surgical gloves, jurors were told. | He touched the breasts of young girls "with the pretence of listening to their heart" and carried out intimate examinations for which there was no medical need, without a nurse present and without wearing surgical gloves, jurors were told. |
'Bomb-proof' | |
The consultant paediatrician thought he was "bomb-proof" because no-one would believe a child over him, prosecutor Miranda Moore QC said. | The consultant paediatrician thought he was "bomb-proof" because no-one would believe a child over him, prosecutor Miranda Moore QC said. |
Allegations about Salmon were first made to the Metropolitan Police in 2012 following the launch of Operation Yewtree, which is investigating historical abuse carried out by Savile and others. | |
Thames Valley Police, which took over the investigation into Salmon, said he claimed the allegations were "sexual fantasies" made up by "gold diggers" and described teenagers as unreliable witnesses. | |
Det Serg Malcolm Wheeler said the former doctor was a "prolific sexual offender" who "preyed on young girls". | |
"They trusted him, they believed him, because he was a doctor and they thought he was trustworthy," he said. | |
A CPS spokesman said Salmon's offences were "particularly shocking" because of the abuse of his position. | |
Chief crown prosecutor Adrian Foster, said: "His crimes were extremely traumatic for his victims who should have expected his support rather than this gross betrayal of their trust." | |
Salmon was found not guilty of one count of rape and another of indecent assault. He was also cleared of carrying out an illegal abortion. | |
Although he worked at Stoke Mandeville while Jimmy Savile abused patients at the hospital, their offending is not believed to be linked, jurors heard. | Although he worked at Stoke Mandeville while Jimmy Savile abused patients at the hospital, their offending is not believed to be linked, jurors heard. |
A date for sentencing has not yet been set. | A date for sentencing has not yet been set. |