GP ‘took 19,000 secret pictures of women patients’

A TRUSTED GP secretly took thousands of pictures and videos of women patients for his own sexual gratification, a court heard.

Dr Thair Altaii, 55, used two phones to capture 19,000 covert images of the women at his surgery in Sunderland and stored them on his laptop, it is claimed.

He claims he took the pictures for his own assessment and training purposes.

Jurors at Newcastle Crown Court watched clips of a woman confiding in the GP about her medical problems and being examined after removing her tights.

They have also seen a collection of some of the secret pictures.

Prosecutor Louise Reevell told the court the police became involved when a patient noticed two mobile phones propped up in different places during an appointment. The court heard the doctor was arrested as a result of the patient’s concerns and his Dell laptop, along with other equipment, was seized by police.

Miss Reevell said: ‘They found in excess of 19,000 images of women, some clothed, others were in various states of undress and the images were apparently taken in the surgery environment. They also recovered video clips of patients being examined.’

During a police interview, Altaii accepted recording nine medical consultations without permission of the patients. He denied any of the images or videos were taken for sexual gratification. Altaii, of South Tyneside, denies three offences of voyeurism between 2008 and 2014. The trial continues.