Former GP jailed for ‘sustained campaign’ of historic sexual abuse

A 79-YEAR-OLD former doctor was jailed for 15 years and six months for historic sexual offences over an 11-year period, the Metropolitan Police said.

Lalitkumar Muljibhai Nirmal (right), of Malham Close, was sentenced at Woolwich crown court last Wednesday (10).

He had pleaded guilty to eight counts of indecent assault on a girl under 14 years and four counts of gross indecency with another girl under 14 years.

Police said the offences took place between 1975 and 1986 at various locations, including Croydon, Sydenham and Cwmbran in Wales. The incidents involved the same female victim, who was known to Nirmal.

He was also convicted of a single count of indecent assault against another young girl.

The incidents were reported in October 2019. Nirmal was questioned in August 2020 and was charged in May last year.

Nirmal was registered as a GP with the General Medical Council between 1972 and 1995, and was practising as a GP in Cwmbran.

Anjie Bowen, a senior crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences unit, said: “Lalitbhai Nirmal carried out a sustained campaign of sexual abuse, while hiding behind a veneer of respectability as a doctor and trusted local GP. His vulnerable victims have been left devastated by the harmful impact of his offending on their lives.

“His actions were predatory and despicable. One of Nirmal’s victims endured appalling abuse at his hands for a decade, throughout a large portion of her childhood. I hope these convictions provide the victims with some sense of closure and encourage other victims to come forward and report their abusers to the police.”

Detective Sergeant Mark Morris, from South East BCU CID, said: “We know Nirmal was a GP in the 1980s in the Torfaen area of Wales. While the victims were not patients of his, we must consider the possibility he abused this position of trust to hurt others.

“I would appeal for anyone with information to contact the police on 101. Any information passed will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence and handled by a specialist team with significant experience in dealing with offences of this nature.”