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Retired GP Stephen Cox guilty of indecently assaulting female patients

Retired Berkshire GP Stephen Cox has been found guilty of indecently assaulting seven female patients.

Posted on 08 October 2024

Cox, aged 65, of was found guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault after a four-week retrial at Reading Crown Court, Thames Valley Police said. 

He practised as a GP at the Ralphs Rides surgery in Bracknell during the 1980s and 1990s. 

Over a number of years, Dr Cox indecently assaulted seven of his patients a number of times on the pretext of carrying out routine medical examinations on them, police reported. 

Cox now lives in Stockton Mill, Welshpool, Shropshire. He is due to be sentenced on Monday 7 October at Reading Crown Court. 

Detective Constable Sara Di Giorgio said police “were keeping an open mind as to the possibility that Cox has committed other offences during his career”. 

She said that during his career, the GP had also practised in Burton-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Derby, Measham in Leicestershire, Wokingham, Ouse Valley in West Sussex, and Telford. 

Six of the verdicts given at Reading Crown Court were unanimous and a further six by a majority verdict. Cox was acquitted of four further counts of indecent assault and has been jailed for 22 years

Leigh Day abuse team solicitor Cat Rubens represents women who were sexually abused by Dr Manish Shah, who was jailed in 2020 for a minimum of 15 years for 90 sexual assaults on 24 female patients. He was later given two life sentences with a minimum term of 10 years to run concurrently with the earlier sentences after he was convicted of 25 sexual offences against four women. 

Following the conviction of Dr Stephen Cox, Cat Rubens said:  

“Dr Cox grossly abused the trust and confidence of women who should have been safe when visiting their GP for medical care. By pretending that they required intimate examinations, he preyed upon their vulnerabilities and his position of power in order to sexually assault them. 

“Questions now need to be asked of the scrutiny that the NHS placed on Dr Cox’s practice, and how he was able to prey on vulnerable female patients for so long. As in the case of Dr Manish Shah, I call on clinical commissioning groups and NHS England to rapidly review the systems, oversight and monitoring that should have been in place to safeguard Dr Cox’s patients, and for Dr Cox’s surgery to ensure that his victims receive appropriate redress and support.” 

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