'Hypnotic' doctor faces new sexual misconduct panel

A patient at Royal South Hants Hospital accused the doctor of telling her: "You will lust for me"

A hospital doctor, who was accused of sexual misconduct after talking to female patients in a "hypnotic way", has been ordered to face a second medical tribunal hearing.

Dr Neill Charles Garrard was accused by a woman in Southampton of "sexual chanting" and telling her "you will lust for me", while a woman in Lewisham said he made her undress unnecessarily and used a "weird... soothing voice".

In December, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) found the allegations not proved.

However, a High Court judge has quashed the decision, saying the panel wrongly applied the law on the cross-admissibility of similar evidence from complainants.

In March 2021, Dr Garrard treated a woman at Royal South Hants Hospital after she complained of migraines and twice passed out.

The patient, who had a mental health diagnosis, accused him of "hypnosis-style chanting" and telling her she would "lust for me" and "love me and kiss me", the court was told.

The locum registrar also asked her to undress and squeezed her nipple, it was heard.

A second vulnerable woman was treated in December 2021 at University Hospital Lewisham in London.

Dr Garrard asked her to undress, spoke in a hypnotic way and told her to wait for him after work, she alleged.

However, he denied the accusations, telling the medical panel the women were unreliable witnesses due to their mental disorders.

Dismissing the charges, the tribunal found "very substantial differences" between the two cases.

It said: "Having found neither allegation of speaking or chanting in a hypnotic way to have been proved, it would not be correct to conclude that either allegation supported the credibility of the other."

However, in his judgement, Mr Justice MacDonald said the tribunal had wrongly interpreted the law.

He said: "It is not necessary to find one allegation to be proved before relying upon the evidence in respect of that allegation in support of the other allegation.

"Had the Tribunal not fallen into error in these respects, it might have made a different decision."

The judge said both vulnerable women had accused the doctor of controlling behaviour, speaking in a "distinctive repetitive manner" and making them undress inappropriately.

He ordered a new tribunal to be convened at a later date.