Hearing set for GP jailed for molesting patients

Stephen Cox was jailed for 22 years last October

A disgraced GP jailed for molesting patients during routine examinations faces being struck off at a tribunal hearing later this month.

Stephen Cox was described as "the worst kind of sexual predator" as he was sentenced in October for 12 indecent assaults on seven people at the former Ralphs Ride practice in Bracknell, Berkshire, between 1988 and 1997.

Reading Crown Court heard that retired Cox, 65, was "motivated by sexual pleasure" when he assaulted the women at what is now the Waterfield Practice.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service plans to hold a two-day hearing into Cox's conduct from 26 August.

Cox was suspended from practising as a doctor for nine months in October 2010 following inappropriate behaviour with two patients and a trainee at a practice in Handcross, West Sussex.

He was found to have placed a hand inside a patient's bra during an examination, pushed or thrust his body against a woman's bottom and deliberately touched and/or rubbed the medical student's leg and arm.

Last year, Judge Sarah Campbell said Cox had assaulted vulnerable women he thought would be less likely to complain.

He also worked in Wokingham, Burton-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Derby, Leicestershire and Telford.

Cox, from near Welshpool, was cleared of another four counts involving one of his victims following a month-long trial in the autumn.

One of his victims said they were driven to addiction by Cox's offending, while another said she had been "violated" as a result of his "sick fetish".