A former doctor has appeared in court accused of more than 80 sex offences against women and girls in Scotland. Krishna Singh faces claims of indecent assault, sexual assault and acting in a lewd and libidinous manner, mostly at medical centres in North Lanarkshire where he practiced as a GP, between 1983 and 2018. A document with 84 separate charges against the 72-year-old was read out before a jury at Glasgow’s High Court on Thursday.
Several charges involve girls who were under the age of 16 when Singh allegedly molested them, the court was told. Singh is also accused of going to some of his alleged victims’ homes in North Lanarkshire – uninvited – to “examine” them.
He is accused of kissing and touching and making inappropriate comments. In some cases, Singh is said to have asked women to stand on scales before molesting them.
He first faced allegations at the High Court in June 2019. At the time, his lawyer Janice Green said he denied all the charges. Lord Armstrong adjourned the case until 10am on Friday. Singh qualified as a doctor in India in 1974.
He then registered with the General Medical Council as a doctor in November 1976 before taking up a job as a GP at a practice in North Lanarkshire, where he remained until 2018.
His wife worked alongside him as the practice manager. Singh also took up a position as a police casualty surgeon between 2005 and 2010 in Scotland, during which he examined people in custody.
The court heard this included people who alleged they had been victims of sexual assault.
An investigation into Singh ensued after NHS Lanarkshire received a complaint about the accused in 2018.
Krishna Singh, a general practitioner (GP), was accused of kissing, groping, giving inappropriate examinations and making sleazy comments, charges that he had denied during a trial.
A 72-year-old Indian-origin doctor practicing in Scotland was on Thursday found guilty of sex offences against 80 female patients over 35 years.
Krishna Singh, a general practitioner (GP), was accused of kissing, groping, giving inappropriate examinations and making sleazy comments, charges that he had denied during a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
The GP insisted the patients were wrong and that some of the examinations were what he had been taught during medical training in India.
According to news reports from Scotland, the charges spanned between February 1983 and May 2018 and the offences mainly occurred at medical practices in North Lanarkshire, but also at a hospital accident and emergency department, a police station as well as during visits to patients' homes.
“The Crown case is that Dr Singh was in a routine of offending against women,” prosecutor Angela Gray told the court.
“Sometimes subtle or camouflaged, other times obvious and flagrant. Sexual offending was part of his working life,” she said.
Singh was seen as a respected member of the community, even awarded the royal Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) honour for his contribution to medical services.An investigation into his conduct was launched after one woman reported him in 2018.
The doctor went on to be convicted of 54 charges against the victims, the crimes mainly consisting of multiple sexual and indecent assault.
He was found not proven on nine other charges and not guilty on a further two.The judge hearing the case has deferred sentencing until next month and allowed Singh to be released on bail on condition that he surrendered his passport.
