Stephen Cox 65

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A GP has been jailed for 22 years after he was found guilty of indecently assaulting seven women during routine examinations.

Warning: This article contains details some readers may find upsetting

Stephen Cox, 65, was convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault after a four-week retrial at Reading Crown Court. He was acquitted of a further four charges.

Cox denied all 16 charges of indecent assault while working at a surgery in Bracknell, Berkshire, during the 1980s and 1990s.

Thames Valley Police said that, over a number of years, Cox repeatedly indecently assaulted seven of his female patients on the pretext of carrying out routine medical examinations.

During his trial, the jury heard Cox got patients to undress unnecessarily, touched their breasts, pressed his body against them, and carried out internal examinations when they were not needed or without using gloves.

Cox, of Stockton Mill, Welshpool in Shropshire, claimed the women were mistaken in their allegations and that the examinations would have been medically justified.

He also said he did not remember any of the patients and that they were not telling the truth.

After the GP was convicted, Detective Constable Sara Di Giorgio said Cox was a "prolific and predatory sex offender hiding beneath the mask of being a trusted doctor", and he "completely betrayed" patients' trust.

She added that Cox carried out a series of indecent assaults "which his victims have had to live with for many decades".

"He has never displayed an ounce of remorse for what he had done, and has constantly denied any wrongdoing, this despite a number of women, none of whom know each other, coming forward to report what he had done to them," DC Di Giorgio said.

The offences had taken place before the use of computerised healthcare records, which meant the police investigation revolved around handwritten GP notes.

The indecent assaults were not reported at the time and victims came forward once a police investigation opened into Cox, the CPS said.

Lawyer Chris White, for the CPS, said Cox's behaviour was "clearly sexually motivated" and he "used his position to take advantage of his patients".

"With no witnesses to the assaults, it was the strength of all the victims' accounts, which showed a similar pattern in Cox's behaviour, that helped secure his conviction," he said.

"We would like to thank them for coming forward and we hope today's sentence gives them some sense of closure."