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12 years’ jail for depraved family doctor who sexually abused 47 female patients

By Eirian Jane Prosser

‘Undermined the medical profession’

A SHAMED GP found guilty of abusing 47 female patients after ‘hiding in plain sight’ for decades has been jailed for 12 years.

Krishna Singh, 72, carried out a 34year reign of abuse against vulnerable women, including a rape victim.

Singh, described by one victim as acting ‘like Benny Hill’, took advantage of his trusted position within the local community to sexually abuse teenagers and pregnant women.

The retired doctor, from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, was so highly thought of since becoming a GP in the area in the early 1980s that he was even given a job by the police.

His work as a casualty surgeon for the force included examining victims of sexual violence.

Singh, who was awarded an MBE for medical services, was sentenced yesterday at the High Court in Glasgow for 54 charges of sexual and indecent assault.

Judge Lord Armstrong said the disgraced GP had ‘undermined the standing of the medical profession and eroded the trust of female patients’. Singh’s crimes first came to light in 2018 after one woman reported him. The investigation led to more women coming forward.

Sentencing Singh, Lord Armstrong, said: ‘You perpetrated these crimes against these patients over a period of 34 years.

‘I consider it a grave aggravation that it was a breach of trust.

‘You abused this position to carry out unnecessary physical examinations of a sexual nature including examinations without a chaperone and in circumstances where there were no clinical justifications. You undermined the standing of the medical profession and eroded the trust of female patients.’

Lord Armstrong ordered Singh to be placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

The offences mainly occurred at medical practices in Lanarkshire, but also at a hospital’s A&E department, a police station and during visits to patients’ homes. The charges spanned February 1983 to May 2018.

A former patient, now 39, told jurors how Singh would ‘press and prod’ around her pant line – even if the appointment was made for a sore throat.

One woman who was attacked told the trial: ‘He was like Benny Hill, he came with both hands, groped my breasts. He laughed.’

The court heard many of the abused were hesitant about reporting him and felt they would not be heard as he was a senior partner at the surgery and his wife was the practice manager.

Prosecutor Angela Gray said: ‘Dr Singh was in a routine of offending against women. A quick feel, a look in an intimate area, an indecent comment. This was his way of working, Hiding in plain sight.’

Janice Green, defending, said: ‘He will be vulnerable in a custodial setting as a result of his age, inexperience in custody, and the publicity.’

Procurator fiscal Ruth McQuaid said: ‘Krishna Singh’s behaviour was an appalling betrayal of the trust which exists between patient and doctor.’

Detective Inspector Stephen Morris, of the Specialist Crime Division, said: ‘Krishna Singh is now facing the consequences of his appalling and predatory behaviour.’

Partygate: The Verdict

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2022-05-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

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