More complaints made against indecent assault GP

Stephen Cox was previously suspended for misconduct while working in West Sussex

Further complaints have been made against a retired GP jailed last month for indecently assaulting women during routine medical examinations.

Stephen Cox, 65, was sentenced to 22 years for 12 assaults on patients while working at a practice in Bracknell, Berkshire, between 1988 and 1997.

A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said the force is looking into “a number” of cases but investigations remain at an early stage.

Cox previously worked at other practices in Wokingham, Burton-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Derby, Leicestershire, Telford and West Sussex.

Reading Crown Court heard that Cox was "motivated by sexual pleasure" when he assaulted the women at the former Ralphs Ride Practice, now the Waterfield Practice.

He also carried out internal examinations on some of the women when they were not needed or without using gloves.

Cox worked at the former Ralphs Ride practice in Bracknell when he assaulted the women

Judge Sarah Campbell told Cox at his sentencing that he was the "worst kind of sexual predator", who assaulted seven vulnerable women he thought were less likely to complain.

Cox, from near Welshpool, was cleared of another four counts involving one of the victims on 4 October following a month-long trial.

The judge said the way the victims did not report Cox immediately after the assaults "will have struck a chord" with many women.

Cox, who had retired before his recent trial, was suspended from practising as a doctor for nine months in October 2010.

Regulators found that he had acted inappropriately and in a "sexually motivated" way with two patients and a trainee while working at a practice in Handcross, West Sussex.

Instances included placing a hand inside a patient's bra during an examination, pushing or thrusting his body against a woman's bottom and deliberately touching and/or rubbing the medical student's leg and arm.

At the time, the hearing was told he was "devastated when the complainants came forward".

But a panel found Cox did not show he was "able to empathise with the perspectives of the women concerned".