Killer doctor to appeal sex court order
AKILLER doctor who molested female patients in Australia and murdered an expectant mum when she reported him has returned to Southport.
Dr Michael McGrane, originally from Liverpool, was jailed for life over the killing of Yuen Ling Chan after she accused him of misconduct. Her badlydecomposed body was discovered at her flat in south Brisbane in January 1997 after he injected the student with morphine.
McGrane, who practised at a nearby surgery, was found guilty of murdering seven months pregnant Mrs Chan, 29, at a trial in 2001. In 2003, ahead of several failed appeals against conviction, he admitted sexually abusing nine other female patients, at least four of whom were drugged.
Last week the 54-yearold appeared at Liverpool Crown Court, where he is set to appeal against a sexual offences notification order. McGrane, who is now living in Victoria Street, Southport, is challenging Merseyside Police about the stringent court measure.
Notification orders aim to protect the public from sex offenders convicted or cautioned for sexual offences committed overseas. Police have to apply for the orders and if granted by a court, they make the individual subject to strict notification requirements.
These include having to inform the police of any changes to their name or address, places where they regularly stay, and plans to travel abroad. Adults who have been jailed for life are subject to these requirements indefinitely, but this can be challenged after 15 years.
The former doctor, with short grey hair and wearing a suit, represented himself in court to discuss his civil appeal. The grounds upon which McGrane intends to challenge the order were not revealed during the brief hearing.
He spoke only to confirm that a date in December would be suitable for the appeal, which was set by Judge Robert TrevorJones.
McGrane studied at Manchester University before moving to the Middle East with his wife, Catherine, and settling in Australia in the late 1980s.
The couple had a baby in 1999, six weeks after he was charged with the murder of the accountancy student from Hong Kong. Police originally believed Mrs Chan had committed suicide, but a post-mortem examination revealed she was injected with 200mgs of morphine.
The student had lodged a complaint against McGrane with the Australian Health Rights Commission two months earlier. She informed an investigator that the GP had given her an injection and she lost consciousness for 15 hours.
Two former patients also complained about McGrane allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting them during appointments. One of the women had sought treatment for back pain, the other for a migraine. Both claimed they were injected and assaulted.
McGrane, who worked in neurosurgery and anaesthetics during his time in Britain, was struck off the register in August 1999, after six further women made complaints.
His mother, Mary McGrane, from Bootle, flew to Australia to give evidence in defence of her son during a seven-week trial. But a jury at Queens- land Supreme Court took less than seven hours to find him guilty of murdering Mrs Chan, also known as Jessica.
In 2003, Brisbane District Court was told that McGrane drugged at least four of nine patients, aged 16 to 48, during examinations between 1993 and 1998.