Sick doctor sexually assaulted women during exams for injuries from car crashes as victim says ‘I can never forgive you’

A VILE doctor who sexually assaulted vulnerable women during medical examinations for injuries has been locked up behind bars. Dr Mohammad Iqbal committed a “gross breach of trust” of the doctor-patient relationship in shocking attacks on two women while assessing them after they were injured in car crashes. Newcastle Crown Court heard that a vile doctor sexually assaulted the two women during appointments Credit: NCJ Media Dr Mohammad Iqbal was convicted by a jury and has now been jailed for 18 months Credit: Durham Constabulary /PA Wire Iqbal, 64, of County Meath, Ireland, was paid by insurance companies to provide medical reports following road accidents. He regularly travelled to the UK from Ireland, where he was a GP partner, to conduct examinations at clinics in Newcastle, County Durham, and Sunderland. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Newcastle Crown Court heard it was during these assessment appointments for damages claims that he sexually assaulted the two women. He denied two counts of sexual assault, but was convicted by a jury and has now been jailed for 18 months. Sentencing him, Judge Edward Bindloss said: “You were using a medical examination in relation to (the patients) as a cover for sexually assaulting them. In a gross breach of trust of the doctor patient relationship, you sexually assaulted both of them.” During an appointment with his first victim in County Durham, Iqbal ordered the woman to stand up before rubbing up against her in an aroused state for up to 40 seconds and squeezing her breast. Some weeks later in Sunderland, he asked his second victim to remove her top and touched both of her naked breasts with his hands, having what she described as “a good feel”, the court heard. The court heard one victim had suffered significant physical injuries in her crash and became so upset while reliving it that Iqbal recommended psychological counselling in his report. Most read in The Sun Judge Bindloss told him: “So you were well aware of the harm the accident had caused to her psychologically. “That made her vulnerable and you knew of her vulnerability prior to sexually assaulting her.” The woman told the court in a victim impact statement: “I would not normally disclose something so deeply personal to me. I do not want to be labelled a victim or a statistic but, Dr Iqbal, this is what you have made me. “I went to you as a doctor, as someone in a position of trust and you not only completely betrayed this position but also the medical oath you have taken. You also sexually assaulted me that day and I can never forgive you for that. “Imagine not trusting a doctor. Again, that’s what you have done to me and my family. “On the day I found out Dr Iqbal had been found guilty I cried so hard, I was shaking. The public need to be protected from having this relationship with you.” The second victim told the court: “When Dr Iqbal chose to assault me in the medical examination I was vulnerable. I remember being in floods of tears recounting what happened during the accident. “He took advantage of that vulnerability and he was wrong to do so. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t say anything at the time, but I’ve since learned that that’s quite common. “When I left the examination I realise I was in shock and that shock continued for months until I received the report. Then I was angry. Angry at the fact that Dr Iqbal had lied on the report, more importantly that he assaulted me. He broke a sacred trust.” The woman said she still “experienced fear and anxiety” and asks for a chaperone or take someone with me when she goes to medical appointments. The court heard Iqbal had been a doctor for many years and was licensed to practise in both the UK and Ireland. Character references described the “well-regarded doctor and colleague” as generous, loyal, courteous, good-humoured, caring, and compassionate. He is currently suspended by the General Medical Council and is likely to lose his registration, while he has also been suspended by the Irish Medical Council and had his GP partnership terminated. Judge Bindloss noted that Iqbal had no previous convictions, was not classed as posing a high risk of harm, and was capable of rehabilitation -factors that often support a suspended sentence. However, the judge added: “But this offence is of such seriousness because it undermines a precious bond of trust between a physician and his patient. “Patients need to know the doctor they are seeing has their best interests at heart – that’s the basis for the whole relationship. “In my judgement, the only way appropriate punishment can be achieved is by immediate custody.”