A disgraced East London doctor who abused his position as a trusted GP to sexually abuse women and girls has been sentenced to life in prison.
Manish Shah, 53, subjected his victims to unncecessary intimate examinations for his own sexual gratification while a partner at the Mawney Road medical practice in Romford, east London.
He groomed teenage patients by showering them with compliments, and pretended patients were at risk of cancer to justify intimate examinations.
Shah used the cancer cases of Jade Goody and Angelina Jolie to bolster his lies to the female victims, playing on their fears to persuade them to trust him.
Shah doctored the records after sexual assaults, claiming patients had requested intimate examinations during one-to-one consultation and falsely stating they had been accompanied by chaperones.
The former GP is already serving three life sentences with a minimum of 15 years in prison after he was convicted at two Old Bailey trials of 90 sex offences against 24 victims.
He was tried for a third time and convicted in December last year of a further 25 sexual offences against four women.
Judge Peter Rook KC sentenced Shah on Monday to two further life sentences, telling him: “There is no doubt your actions undermined patient trust in General Practicioners.
“It is inevitable your actions – mulitple gross breaches of trust – caused or contributed to long-term psychological problems suffered by your victims.”
He said Shah played the part of a “hard-working and caring” doctor while grooming victims for repeated sexual assaults.
“You regularly abused your position of power for your own sexual gratification”, added the judge.
One of Shah’s victims told the court on Monday how she used to be “outgoing and a social person”, but now struggles to leave the house without suffering from debilitating panic attacks.
“I don’t go to the doctors anymore, I am always scared it may happen again”, she said, in a victim impact statement.
Another of Shah’s victims was just 15-year-old when she was targeted, as the GP made up a bogus cancer risk, suggested she was “beautiful” and could be a model, and called her his “favourite”.
“You actions, Mr Shah, have haunted me for 12 years”, she said.
“They have affected very important events in my growth and development from a youth into womanhood.
“After the last appointment, I left feeling violated and insecure”, she said, adding that she felt herself consumed by a “black cloud of depression and insecurity”.
Some of Shah’s victims did not realise they had been abused until they were approached by police, following the GP’s suspension in 2013.
A third victim, who was 17-years-old when Shah’s abuse began, went to the doctor for help with dyslexia but was pursuaded into regular intimate examinations.
“I no longer trust any man”, she told the court.
“I want him to stay in prison for the rest of his life and think about what he did to me and people like me.
“He broke my trust and everyone else’s trust. I don’t think he deserves to come out of prison and have a normal life.”
Passing sentence, the judge said Shah has been struck off as a doctor in the UK but cannot be barred from working in medicine in other countries in the future.
He said Shah has not yet come to terms with his offending and still poses a danger to women.
Shah will not be considered for release from prison until December 2033.
He was handed two life sentences with minimum terms of ten years at Monday’s hearing.
