It was a phone in my pocket, claims ‘sex-pest’ doctor
The weed that is strangling house sales
JAPANESE knotweed inflicts so much damage on buildings it is causing property deals to fall through and devaluing homes, a study reveals.
One in 10 homeowners whose house is blighted by the invasive plant has spent more than £4,000 removing it, while 20 per cent have seen the value of their home drop.
Almost two-thirds who have the weed in their garden have seen it cause damage to buildings and even destroy fencing. The research was conducted by the Crop Protection Association, which found 27 per cent of Britons know someone who has had problems caused by knotweed.
And the really bad news is the plant’s only known killer, glyphosate, could be banned by the EU, leaving knotweed to grow uncontrollably.
Some European countries, under pressure from green activists, plan to vote against renewing the licence for the use of glyphosate in Europe at an upcoming meeting, effectively banning it from mid-December.
David Layland, of Japanese Knotweed Control, said: “Without glyphosate, controlling knotweed would become more costly.”
Despite an infestation every six miles in the UK, only 30 per cent thought they would recognise knotweed, which was brought to the UK in the 1820s as an ornamental plant. A HOSPITAL doctor yesterday denied becoming sexually aroused as he hugged two nurses and insisted it was just a mobile phone in his pocket.
Dr Mohammed Yasin, 30, denies sexual misconduct while working on a night shift at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital in April last year.
A General Medical Council tribunal in Manchester heard he embraced and thrust himself against the two nurses. But he insisted they may have mistaken his phone or car keys in his pocket for arousal.
One of his alleged victims told hearing: “I know the difference.”
Miss B explained how she was helping an elderly patient to the toilet when Dr Yasin approached looking “stressed”. He allegedly asked for a hug but without waiting for a reply squeezed her tightly.
Miss B said: “It’s not something that happens every time you go to work. I know the difference between a mobile phone and an erection.
“As we carried on hugging it started to grow. It felt horrible.”
The hearing was told Dr Yasin later attended a different unit where the the second nurse, Miss A, was working. Miss A said: “He came behind me and started to rub my shoulders. Dr Yasin asked for a hug before hugging me and moved his hands down to my waist and back. I hadn’t been hugged by a male doctor before. I do remember he had an erection. It was visible. I just noticed it. I don’t think it was a phone or a key fob.”
Yasin, of Birmingham, told the hearing: “I was not aroused. I can only imagine I had something in my pocket.
“I would have carried my Nokia phone, key fob and tissues. They were mistaken. I don’t even find these girls attractive.”
Defending his repeated hugging of nurses, unmarried Yasin added: “I felt hugging was part of the culture at work. Within my culture, for males and females to touch each other if they are not married is considered inappropriate and wrong. One of the things I was concerned about was with the concept of fitting in.
“I’ve never hugged anyone from behind because I know it’s not appropriate.”
Yasin denies the allegations. The hearing continues.