Accused doc ‘well respected’

A CORIO doctor on trial over indecent assault charges was a man of good character and respected by staff, the manager of a Melbourne clinic where he worked told the County Court.

Mohammad Rahman said Akm Junaid Tanveer was a competent doctor whose character had never been questioned at the clinic.

“He’s a very competent doc- tor and respected by staff. There’s never been any issues raised about his character,” Dr Rahman told the court yesterday. “He calls me from time to time for professional advice (because I’m the practice manager).”

Dr Rahman’s character reference came as Dr Tanveer faced the third day of a County Court trial into the alleged indecent assault of a 25-year-old female patient at a Corio clinic in 2015.

The court heard Dr Tan- veer and Dr Rahman had been friends since studying medicine in New Zealand in 1996 and had practised together at the Cairnlea superclinic in Melbourne’s northwest.

Crown Prosecutor Patrick Bourke said, during opening arguments earlier this week, Dr Tanveer asked the young woman to “kneel” on an examination table during a breast examination at the First Point Medical Centre in Corio in 2015.

The court heard Dr Tan- veer at one point examined the patient’s breasts using both hands simultaneously — a method deemed unorthodox by two experienced medical practitioners.

Geelong-based medico Deborah Harley said on Wednesday she could not see any clinical advantage to that type of examination. “It is common practice to examine one breast at a time. To examine two at once would be mentally confusing,” Ms Harley said.

Cranbourne medico Leon Shapero said he “could not see the logic” in asking a woman to kneel over a table to examine the symmetry of her breasts.

Lawyer for Dr Tanveer, Sarah Keating, said on Tuesday her client had been a doctor for more than 20 years and had never been the subject of a medical complaint. “An essential issue in dispute will be (the patient’s) credibility and reliability,” she told the jury.

The trial before Judge Felicity Hampel will continue on Monday.

“He’s a very competent doctor and respected by staff. There’s never been any issues raised about his character.” MOHAMMAD RAHMAN