Dr Depravity: Now lawyer demands public inquiry
Families ask how GP got away with ‘35-year reign of sexual terror’
SHAME OF PERVERT GP WHO ATTACKED 48 FEMALE PATIENTS
From yesterday’s Mail
A LAWYER for the victims of depraved doctor Krishna Singh has called for a public inquiry into how the GP managed to get away with assaulting women over a ‘35year-long reign of sexual terror’.
Singh, 72, faces jail after being found guilty this week of 54 sex crimes against 48 women and girls.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Patrick McGuire from Thompsons Solicitors, which represents some of the Lanarkshire GP’s victims, said: ‘It’s the end of a very long road for justice for very brave women who came forward.
‘But it’s just incredible to think in this day and age this perpetrator, this abuser, could engage in a 35-year-long reign of sexual terror that ended as recently as 2018.
‘It’s absolutely incredible and I think that question has to be addressed. Everybody in the NHS Lanarkshire area and the whole of Scotland will want to know how it’s possible – and the only way that can happen, in my mind, is an immediate public inquiry being called.’
Married Singh, who was awarded an MBE for medical services in 2013, subjected his victims to inappropriate examinations as well as kissing, groping and making sleazy comments to them.
He also targeted girls under 16 and pregnant women who went to his surgery in Coatbridge between 1983 and 2018.
Mr McGuire said the inquiry was also needed to confirm when the first report was made against Mr Singh. He added: ‘It is suggested that the first complaint that was made about this man, this predator, was in 2018.
‘I personally find this difficult to believe... I would take it with an enormous pinch of salt. I would find it incredible to believe that in over 35 years and with 48 women abused by this man, that this was the first complaint made.’
He added: ‘We need to have an NHS and a group of GPs we can trust. I strongly suggest that this is one very bad apple that has ruined the barrel, but we need that public trust to be rebuilt.’
Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre director Helen Provan warned the case could be the tip of the iceberg when asked by BBC Radio Scotland if there could be other doctors who abuse their patients.
She said: ‘Sadly, there is no question and certainly we have dealt with cases before, whether it’s in Scotland or elsewhere, of doctors or other people in positions.
‘Of course we’re all aware of some of the higher-profile cases from the Met Police and in teaching as well… the individuals who’re seeking out those job roles that have those positions where they have access to people.’
Some of Singh’s victims are planning civil actions against the authorities.
In a previous statement, NHS Lanarkshire described his crimes as a ‘despicable breach of trust’.