Doctor found guilty of indecent assaults on patients

Dr Stephen Cox has "never displayed an ounce of remorse", a senior police officer said

A GP has been found guilty of indecently assaulting women as he carried out routine medical examinations on them.

Stephen Cox, 65, denied 16 counts of indecent assault against seven women while practising in Bracknell, Berkshire, between 1988 and 1997.

But he was found guilty of 12 charges and was found to have assaulted all seven victims.

Cox, from near Welshpool, will be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Monday following a month-long trial.

Prosecutor Chris Hewertson said Cox was "motivated by sexual pleasure" and that the touching was not medically justified at the former Ralphs Ride practice, now the Waterfield Practice.

A jury was discharged in a previous trial, at the same court, when it failed to reach verdicts on seven counts of indecent assaults on women in March 2023.

He was cleared of another count of indecent assault at the time.

Some of his victims came forward to complain about Cox's behaviour after hearing or reading about police action against him on the radio and in local newspapers, decades after he had abused them.

Cox worked at the former Ralphs Ride practice, currently the Waterfield Practice, when he indecently assaulted the women

Police said officers are keeping an "open mind" over other possible assaults.

Cox also worked in Wokingham, Burton-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Derby, Leicestershire, Telford and West Sussex.

Det Con Sara Di Giorgio, of Thames Valley Police, said the jury had come to "absolutely the correct conclusion" on his offending in Bracknell.

“Cox’s patients had every right to feel safe and to trust him, but he completely betrayed this trust, embarking on 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 wrong-doing, this despite a number of women, none of whom know each other, coming forward to report what he had done to them," she added.

“He is a prolific and predatory sex offender hiding beneath the mask of being a trusted doctor, and I hope that the outcome of this case will give the victims some justice.

“I would like to praise each and every one of his victims for coming forward and showing the bravery, not only to report the offences, but also to testify in court."

Cox will be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Monday afternoon

It can now be reported that Cox was earlier barred 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 multiple other women 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 her bottom and deliberately touching and/or rubbing a medical student's leg and arm.

In another incident, it found that he had told her that he was "making the most" of injecting her because "it's not very often I get to touch women's bottoms", or words to that effect.

Cox, who arrived in court with a large holdall, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced by Judge Sarah Campbell from 14:00 BST on Monday.