GP’S SECRET CAMERA CLAIM
Jury told of surgery filming allegations
A GP who allegedly secretly filmed female patients for sexual gratification during consultations and examinations at his surgery was found with 19,000 images of women on his private computer, a court heard.
Dr Thair Altaii denies taking and retaining images and videos of women for kicks during visits to see him at the practice where he was a partner.
The 55-year-old is standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court accused of three voyeurism charges between 2008 and 2014 in relation to two female patients and more than 300 pictures.
Jurors heard when police examined his laptop, they found 19,000 images of women, “some clothed and others in various states of undress”, which were “apparently taken in the surgery environment”.
Altaii, of White Rocks Grove, Whitburn, South Tyneside, claims he took the footage - which the alleged victims say was captured without consent - for training and selfassessment purposes.
The recovered images of one of the complainants, which were shown to the jury, included her in a bra, putting on or taking off a dress, having her chest listened to, lifting her dress up, pulling her top up, putting on or taking off knickers or shorts, standing in her underwear and with her buttocks exposed.
A video clip was played to the court, which shows Altaii appearing to ready the mobile phone to record before saying “Yes, come in” to the patient.
The young woman, wearing a vest top, talks to him about her studies and he tells her tests with have come back fine. He then takes her blood pressure and appears to check her chest with a stethoscope.
She complains about pains in her legs and another clip shows footage of her removing her tights and he examines her legs on a bed.
Alternative angles of the initial consultation and of the leg examination - allegedly taken from a second mobile phone - were also played.
The woman said she was not asked for consent for the taking of the pictures, nor would she have given it.
Prosecutor Louise Reevell told the court: “At the time of the alleged offences the defendant worked as a GP.
“Matters came to the attention of the police in August 2014 when one of the defendant’s patients contacted the police with concerns following an appointment with the defendant during which she noticed two mobile phones propped up in a consultation room.
“One was propped up on the defendant’s desk, pointing towards the patient’s chair, a second was propped up on a shelf overlooking the examination table in the same room.”
As a result of what the woman told police, Altaii was arrested and items were seized from his home, including a Dell computer.
Miss Reevell said: “They found more than 19,000 images of women.
“Some were clothed, others were in various states of undress and the images were apparently taken in the surgery environment.
“They also found video clips of patients being examined.”
Police identified one woman on the footage, of whom there were 223 images as well as a video clip of a consultation.
Miss Reevell said: “(The complainant) was completely unaware she was being recorded and had not consented.
“She saw the images and thought they were taken over a three to four year period from looking at her hairstyle and clothing. All without consent.”
A further 116 images were found of another woman, as well as a video clip.
She told police she had not consented to any footage being taken of her during appointments and added: “I would have refused if asked.”
The woman viewed the pictures that had been found of her and said she had not given permission for any of them to be taken.
The woman told police she had noticed a propped up phone, which she thought may be an iPhone, on the doctor’s desk during an appointment but had initially thought it may have been left in that position after he had been tidying. She said it was when she saw the second phone, which she thought may be a Blackberry, overlooking the examination area, that her concern grew.
In a statement to police she said: “I started to feel uncomfortable and wanted to leave, having seen two mobile phones in unusual standing positions facing different examination areas of the room.
“What was said afterwards was blurred. I was uncomfortable and didn’t know what was going on.
“I couldn’t say 100% if they were recording but common sense told me they shouldn’t be there.”
When Altaii was re-interviewed by police, he gave a prepared statement accepting he had recorded nine medical consultations of female patients without making them aware.
He claimed the purpose was to “engage in self-assessment about his examination technique” and admitted making an error of judgement.
During a subsequent interview, he was shown some of the images recovered. He said they were taken for “training purposes” and he was analysing the consultations and may use them for diagnosis at a later date.
Miss Reevell said: “He denied he had the pictures for any sexual gratification.”
She added: “The prosecution case is this defendant’s purpose in having these images was sexual - that is why he had and retained the images, for his own sexual gratification.”
Altaii denies three offences of voyeurism. The trial continues.