LONDON GP DR MOHAMMAD HAQ GUILTY OF INDECENT ASSAULT
A doctor has been found guilty of fondling the breasts of a teenage girl and three women patients during unnecessary clinical examinations.Dr Mohammad Haq, 74, of Parkstone Avenue, Hornchurch, London, was convicted of five offences of indecent assault on four women.The offences occurred at three clinics in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.The judge at St Albans Crown Court stated that a custodial sentence was "inevitable".
Prosecutor Miranda Moore QC explained, "There were inappropriate breasts examinations and there was no clinical justification for what happened." The court heard that Dr Haq had indecently assaulted women while working as a GP at two surgeries in Hatfield.During the trial, the judge ruled that Dr Haq had no case to answer on two charges of indecent assault, but the jury convicted him of five counts and acquitted him of two others.
The jury could not reach a verdict on a remaining charge.
The judge granted him bail but indicated that custody was "pretty much inevitable," and ordered that he register as a sex offender.
The youngest victim, aged 15, reported that she went to see him because she had swollen neck glands.
She described how he asked her to remove her top, bra, and trousers, and told her to bend over, leaving her feeling stunned.
Another woman told how Dr Haq suggested she was pregnant and asked her to strip, squeezing her breasts, an act she complained about to the surgery receptionist, who "laughed at her." When questioned, Dr Haq said he did not remember the women or misconduct.Sex offenderHaq had indecently assaulted women in the late 1970s and early 1980s while working as a GP at the Burvill House Surgery and Hilltop Surgery in Hatfield.
During the trial, Judge Andrew Bright QC indicated there was no case to answer on two charges of indecent assault.
He was found guilty by the jury on five counts, but two other charges were dropped, and one was unresolved.
The judge released him on bail but warned that prison time was likely, and scheduled a further hearing for sentencing, during which he was ordered to register as a sex offender.
