Laser treatment doctor groped three female patients, jury told

Shrivas Kini, 62, touched the women inappropriately during appointments between 2003 and 2010, a jury at Leeds Crown Court heard.

One of his alleged victims broke down in tears yesterday as she told a jury that he was unable to keep his hands to himself.

Kini, of Grange Croft, Sheffield, denies charges of indecent assault, sexual assault and assault by penetration.

Sharon Beattie, opening the case for the prosecution, told the jury: “The ladies did not consent to what happened to them. The real issue in this case is not whether or not these things amounted to the offences charged but whether they happened at all.

“Your duty is to determine what did happen.”

The court heard that Kini was arrested in December 2010 after a patient claimed that he had touched her inappropriately during laser hair removal treatment.

Giving evidence, the woman said she attended five appointments at Kini’s clinic in Stanningley, Leeds, during which he became increasingly tactile.

He hugged and kissed her before and after treatments and asked whether she had a boyfriend, she added.

Describing how she felt after Kini pecked her on the lips, she said: “I remember feeling sick to my gut.

“I thought that wasn’t right. I was really nervous.”

The woman said that, during the fifth appointment, she was burned by the laser and Kini offered her some cream to help ease the pain.

She said he began to apply it to her body without wearing gloves, talking about the clinic’s range of massage treatments as he did so.

The doctor then started to touch her inappropriately and it lasted for a “few minutes”, she added.

“I froze,” the woman said. “I covered my face. I let him do it to me.

“I have got to live with that for the rest of my life.”

Richard Reed, for Kini, suggested to the woman that she had been treated properly and the doctor had merely carried out the treatment he was required to.

But she replied: “He did the procedure. He just can’t keep his bloody hands to himself.”

The court heard that a police investigation into the woman’s claims uncovered earlier complaints made about Kini by two other patients.

One woman complained that the doctor had hugged her while she was topless as she underwent treatment to repair scarring caused by breast surgery.

She claimed Kini “had hold of her for about two or three minutes” and had also tried to kiss her.

Miss Beattie said the woman contacted the police but did not pursue her complaint at the time because she was concerned about jeopardising the doctor’s career.

Another allegation was made by a 17-year-old girl who claimed Kini touched her inappropriately while he was working as a GP in Pontefract in June 2003.

The girl, who was seeking treatment for stomach pains, said Kini lifted up her top and held one of her breasts as he listened to her chest. She claimed the doctor later put his arms around her and cuddled her as she went to leave.

When interviewed by police, Kini said he had never tried to kiss a patient.

He rejected suggestions that he had touched the women inappropriately and described one account as a “total fabrication”.

The trial continues.