GP denies stupefying, assaulting men

A Hastings doctor sedated four men so he could sexually assault them, the Crown has told a court.

Crown prosecutor Steve Manning told a jury that Dr David Lim had given the four men the sedative Midazolam for minor injuries in order to sexually assault them.

David Kang Huat Lim, 41, is on trial by jury before Judge Geoff Rea in the Napier District Court. He faces 13 charges: five of stupefying and eight of indecent assault.

Lim was a GP at The Doctors clinic in Hastings until police charged him in late 2015.

The Crown alleges that he indecently assaulted and stupefied four male patients, aged between 18 and 30, between January and September 2014. The alleged offending occurred in toilet cubicles, a treatment cubicle, and a darkened surgical room.

Manning said the four men did not know each other, and each had a comparatively minor ailment, such as a dislocated finger or an abscess.

All were given Midazolam, which meant they were conscious during the medical procedure but did not remember what happened.

Manning said each victim would tell the court about what they recall happening as they came out of sedation, including having their genitalia or nipples touched. All four had had their trousers undone, pulled down or completely removed.

‘‘This type of touching can have no lawful medical justification,’’ Manning said.

’’None of these men required touching anywhere near their genitalia’’.

He said Lim took advantage of the men by sedating them so he could touch them sexually, ‘‘safe, he thought, in knowledge they would not recall it’’.

Manning said the clinic had guidelines for the use of Midazolam, written in part by Lim, which stated it should be only used on children, people having a seizure, or people in extreme pain.

Lim’s lawyer Harry Waalkens QC said Lim ‘‘categorically denies’’ the allegations.

He said Lim was ‘‘overtly gay’’. It was likely each of the men would have known this, creating a situation ‘‘ripe for misunderstanding’’.

Waalkens said the use and effects of Midazolam were central to the case, but urged the jury to consider that one of the medicine’s side effects was hallucination.

He said patients felt, heard and saw things that did not occur, and that this was ‘‘well reported by [the medicine’s manufacturer] Roche’’.

The trial is expected to run into next week. The Crown intends to call 23 witnesses.