A hospital doctor has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two vulnerable patients after straying from his ward.
Tayabb Shah committed the offences at the Queen’s Medical Centre in September 2020 – less than a year after he joined the hospital.
The 39-year-old denied five counts of sexual assault but was today (7 February 2022) found guilty by a jury at Nottingham Crown Court.
He has been jailed for four-and-a-half years. Shah will serve at least half of that sentence in prison, and has been placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
The court heard Shah touched the men’s private parts under the pretext of medical examinations. However neither of the victims required genital examination and Shah did not make any notes of the examinations he carried out on the men.
One of the victims was treated in the emergency department and then taken to an acute ward. Shah was employed in the emergency department but left to sexually assault the victim.
Shortly after the assault, the complainant confided in a relative who contacted the patient’s consultant and the police were called.
Specially-trained officers from Nottinghamshire Police’s public protection team visited the victim at his home – and on the same day a second victim came forward to say Shah had sexually assaulted him on a number of separate occasions at the hospital that month.
Shah, formerly of Embley Road, Sherwood, and now of no fixed address, was arrested and charged. His trial began on Monday (31 January 2022) and the jury retired on Friday (4 February) to consider their verdicts.
Following today’s guilty verdicts, Detective Constable Kerry Stringer, from Nottinghamshire Police’s public protection unit, said: “Far from being the kind, caring, compassionate, responsible professional that his victims had the right to expect, Shah abused his position of trust for his own sexual gratification.
“He has shown no hint of regret or remorse and by refusing to admit to his crimes, he put his victims through the further ordeal of reliving what happened in front of a jury.
“I also hope the guilty verdicts delivered today brings comfort to both victims, who showed tremendous strength and bravery throughout the investigation and court proceedings.
“I would also like to pay tribute to the way their families have conducted themselves since Shah’s crimes came to light. I hope they, too, can take solace from today’s outcome.
“Finally, nothing should ever deter any victim of sexual assault from coming forward. Officers worked extremely hard to bring this case to court and I hope it gives people confidence that Nottinghamshire Police will always listen to victims, treat them with respect and investigate reports thoroughly – regardless of who the alleged perpetrator is.”
Dr Keith Girling, medical director at Nottingham University Hospitals, said: “As soon as Nottingham University Hospitals staff reported these very serious allegations about Dr Shah he was excluded from work; we did not renew his contract and we have assisted the police throughout their investigations.
“Dr Shah betrayed the trust that patients and their families place in us whilst they are in our care. Our thoughts are with his victims and their families, and I am so incredibly sorry that they were taken advantage of when they were so vulnerable.
“Dr Shah is not representative of the hard-working and kind staff at Nottingham University Hospitals and we hope that today’s outcome will help provide some degree of comfort to those he harmed.”