GP branded ‘master of deception’ jailed for 90 sex offences against female patients

Manish Shah exploited cancer worries to ‘control and humiliate women’

A GP has been jailed for at least 15 years after being convicted of 90 sex offences against 24 female patients.

Manish Shah, 50, was branded a “master of deception” as he was handed three life sentences at the Old Bailey.

The doctor used the cases of Angelina Jolie and Jade Goody to persuade patients aged between 15 and 39 to undergo unnecessary intimate examinations for his own sexual gratification, the Old Bailey heard.

Shah, of Romford, east London, claimed he had been practising “defensive medicine” against the risk of cancer.​

However, judge Anne Molyneux QC said that his behaviour was driven by his “desire to control and on occasions humiliate women”.

Quoting one of his victims, the judge said: “You made up stories which got into heads and caused panic.”

Judge Molyneux added: “You were a master of deception and you abused your position of power. This was a horrible abuse of trust and caused incalculable harm.

“The details show a pattern of behaviour over five years.

“Your behaviour was not only sexual but was driven by your desire to control and on occasions humiliate women.”

Manish Shah was handed three life sentences at the Old Bailey (Metropolitan Police/PA Wire)

Fifteen of Shah’s victims sat in court on Friday as his barrister Zoe Johnson QC said the GP “deeply regrets hurting them and cannot say sorry enough”.

Last autumn the GP was found guilty of 25 sexual offences against six victims at Mawney Medical Centre between 2009 and 2013.

At an earlier trial in 2018, he was convicted of offences relating to 18 other women, bringing the total number of offences to 90 relating to 24 women.

His youngest victim, who was 15 when she was abused, described being left “anxious, fearful and shaking” at the prospect of visiting the doctor.

Speaking in court, the woman said she felt different about men and worried about being seen as a “sex object”.

Summarising other victim impact statements, prosecutor Rosina Cottage QC said the “lack of trust” created by Shah meant many of the women refused to see male doctors and that it had affected their relationships.

Shah brought up the news story about Angelina Jolie having a preventative mastectomy when he asked a woman if she would like him to examine her breasts.

He also mentioned Jade Goody – who died from cervical cancer – to another woman, saying an examination was in her best interests, the court heard.

Paul Goddard, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Manish Shah was a trusted family doctor, but he took advantage of that trust to abuse his female patients and then falsified their medical notes to try to justify intimate medical examinations that should not have taken place.

“The Crown Prosecution Service wishes to commend those women, who by bravely giving evidence, convinced the jury of Dr Shah’s guilt.”

Additional reporting by Press Association