Doctor convicted of 54 Sex Crimes against 48 Female Patients

Krishna Singh, aged 72, of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, has been convicted of sex crimes against 48 female patients. The doctor abused his position over a 35-year period.

His victims included teenagers, pregnant women and a rape victim.

They were subjected to kissing, groping, inappropriate examinations and sleazy comments during appointments.

Singh was even awarded an MBE for medical services.

When one woman reported him to the authorities in 2018, it sparked a probe into Singh’s offending.

She told NHS Lanarkshire that she had been molested in 2012, which included her being kissed and Singh looking down her underwear.

In her letter, she said: “Inappropriate behaviour took place on a couple of occasions when I required medical attention.

“I was asked if I was having sex with my boyfriend and he told me not to.”

At Glasgow’s High Court, it was heard that the offences mainly occurred at medical practices in North Lanarkshire, but also at a hospital accident and emergency department, a police station and during visits to patients’ homes.

The offences spanned between February 1983 and May 2018.

Singh had been seen as a trusted pillar of the local community treating generations of families since becoming a GP in the area in the early 1980s.

It led to him also being employed as a police casualty surgeon, which included examining victims of sexual violence.

Prosecutor Angela Gray said: “The Crown case is that Dr Singh was in a routine of offending against women.

“Sometimes subtle or camouflaged, other times obvious and flagrant.

“Sexual offending was part of his working life. Access to women as when the situation arose and taking the chances when he could.

“A quick feel, a look in an intimate area, an indecent comment. This was his way of working, Hiding in plain sight.”

In court, numerous women recounted their ordeal at the hands of the doctor.

Among those was a 50-year-old hospital worker who was examined by Singh at Motherwell police station in March 2008, after she reported being raped.

The woman was left shocked after the doctor questioned her on whether sex was consensual.

She said: “He asked me if I had been wearing a skirt and I said I was wearing a jeans and t-shirt. He asked how low my top was and if my cleavage was showing.

“He was asking if I was being provocative… he said, ‘so, you are not a good time girl’?”

She went on to be molested by Singh.

Another former patient revealed how Singh would “press and prod” around her pant line even if it was a check-up on a sore throat.

She was initially a teenager when going to see the GP and said it was a “running joke” between friends about what Singh was like.

Now aged 39, the victim said: “If that was my daughter, I would be sitting in the dock on a murder charge. No professional should act like that.”

Another woman said: “He was like Benny Hill, he came with both hands, groped my breasts and said, ‘big boobies’. He laughed.”

Victims were often hesitant about reporting Singh as they felt they would not be heard as he was senior partner at the surgery and his wife was practice manager.

One victim said “maybe naivety” was the reason why she had not spoken up at the time.

She added: “I thought me being a teenager or young adult, well, who is going to believe me above an adult in a respected position.”

Singh denied the crimes, claiming that some of the examinations had been taught to him during medical training in India.

However, one fellow medic who worked in the country dismissed that.

Singh was convicted of 54 charges against his victims. The crimes mainly consisted of multiple sexual and indecent assaults.

He was found not proven on nine other charges and not guilty on a further two.

DI Stephen Morris, of the Specialist Crime Division, said:

“Krishna Singh was a doctor, and in a position of trust, at the time he carried out this sexual abuse.

“The victims have shown great courage in coming forward with vital information, making sure he was held accountable for his actions, and ultimately convicted.

“His predatory behaviour was appalling for a man in his position.

“I hope this conviction provides a sense of closure for the victims and sends a clear message that all reports of sexual abuse, regardless of the passage of time, will be thoroughly investigated by Police Scotland and victims will be supported throughout.”