Osteopath cleared of groping patients

An osteopath accused of indecently assaulting patients was acquitted at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday.

Terence McBrien, 48, of Alnwick, Northumberland, who practises from his home, had been charged with molesting eight female patients over a two-year period from September 1998.

Mr McBrien, who is divorced and has two children, thanked the jury. Speaking outside court, he said: "I am very pleased with the outcome."

One married patient had alleged that the osteopath touched her intimately during a full body massage. While Mr McBrien did not deny the act, he said the patient had been speaking suggestively to him prior to this and he had regarded this as a "come-on".

He recounted that he had been "livid" when he later discovered that she had lodged a police complaint against him. Mr McBrien told the jury: "What passed between us was totally mutual." Mr McBrien had maintained that a number of the allegations against him referred to legitimate treatment of the breast area.

Seven women complained that the former RAF flight lieutenant touched their breasts, but he told the jury that this was a regular technique he used to reduce tension in the neck area – by massaging muscles below the breast tissue.

Other female patients gave testimonies in support of Mr McBrien's professionalism, including a dance teacher from Northumberland, Virginia Scott, who told the jury: "Treatment with Terry was totally professional and I always felt 100 per cent safe."

During the course of the trial, Judge David Hodson instructed the jury to find the defendant not guilty on three of the original 13 charges.