A gynaecologist has described how a female patient who made false allegations of sexual assault against him threatened to ruin his career and called for action to prevent her from doing it again.
Angus Thomson, 40, said the claims by Bibi Giles that he had abused her when he gave her two “leg buckling orgasms” during an examination were “some of the most serious that a doctor can be accused of” and could threaten careers and reputation. Mrs Giles’ case dramatically collapsed yesterday after it as disclosed that she “had form” for “pestering a doctor” when her former GP came forward after reading about the case.
He was preparing to give evidence, believed to be about her behaviour towards him whilst she was his patient, when she called off the £50,000 damages claim against Mr Thomson.
Last night there was growing anger that she had been allowed to threaten Mr Thomson’s unblemished name with the county court action. She had not reported the so-called assault to the police and the GMC took no action against the consultant after she apparently made a complaint against him.
Dr Stephanie Bown, director of policy and communication at the Medical Protection Society, which provides legal advice to doctors, called for the civil court system to be reformed to prevent vexatious allegations having a “devastating” effect on a doctor’s reputation.
She said that defendants in sexual cases brought in civil courts should be given the right to anonymity, and called for the legal system to allow them to seek some kind of redress against people who bring malicious complaints.
She said: “On the face of it this is a very serious allegation that might warrant a criminal investigation, and you wonder why that didn’t happen. Is it that there wasn’t enough evidence?
“Even when they are unfounded, allegations of this kind also sully the reputation of the entire medical profession.
“There must be a reason why allegations that are so serious did not give rise to charges by the police or the GMC. Yet it's open to somebody with sufficient private funds to bring claims in the civil courts.”
Tim Smith, a partner who specialises in medical reputation issues for law firm Berryman Lace Mawer, said that the civil system allowed “my word against their word” cases to reach court without significant investigation of the allegations.
“Doctors are utterly vulnerable to having their reputations besmirched,” he said. “It’s a very real concern.
“You want to have a system that weeds out the cranks from the real victims, but it’s very hard to do that without restricting people’s access to justice.”
Bertie Leigh, a senior partner in medical law at Hempsons law firm, said that there was a strong cases for doctors being granted anonymity in civil cases relating to sexual misconduct.
“Such complaints are especially damaging to doctors because of the high standards the public sets for the medical profession,” he said.
Mrs Giles, 50, had been referred to Mr Thomson, a consultant gynaecologist based at Droitwich Spa, Worcs, after suffering 16 years of medical problems.
She claimed that during an internal examination after her surgery he touched and rubbed her inappropriately, giving her two orgasms in under two minutes.
She also alleged that he then pestered her into having an affair.
However, Mr Thomson, from Worcester, accused her of harassing him and other doctors were well aware of the situation between him and “Miss Guyana” – a reference to suggestions she had told him she was a former beauty queen who had held the title Miss Guyana.
As her story unravelled, it emerged she had sent him lurid messages, including a suggestive text asking him to christen her with his “Angus beef sausage”.
The final straw came when on Thursday new evidence emerged in the form of Mrs Giles’ medical notes held by her former GP, Dr William Dowley, taken from the time he was treating her, between 2002-2004.
Christina Lambert QC, representing Mr Thomson, said she was calling Dr Dowley “in respect of invites and conversations between him and Mrs Giles”.
She said the evidence involved Mrs Giles saying to Dr Dowley she wanted a personal relationship with him, and that she had a high libido.
She added: “Mrs Giles had reported to him that there had been a previous relationship above and beyond a doctor patient relationship.”
Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins said: “Life would have been much easier if Mrs Giles had admitted this incident at the start of the case. She has got form. She has pestered a doctor in the past.”
The judge said Mrs Giles had decided to withdraw the case and pay £30,000 towards Mr Thomson’s legal costs.
Judge Pearce-Higgins said: “This has the effect of fully exonerating him and he leaves with his professional integrity intact.
“He has no doubt learnt there are no doubt limits to the compassion and concern in dealing with his patients.”
On the steps of Worcester County Court, Mr Thomson, standing with his wife, Lucy, a 40-year-old GP, thanked Dr Dowley for his “courageous and noble behaviour in coming forward after seeing the press coverage.’’
He said: “I never expected to be standing outside a court delivering this kind of statement but I’m extremely pleased this is all over.
“The last three years have been a horrible ordeal and the last three weeks have been unspeakably stressful for my wife, our extended families and for me.
“The allegations Mrs Giles made are completely untrue and are some of the most serious that a doctor can be accused of and threatened to ruin my career and reputation.
“I am therefore enormously relieved and delighted that this case has been concluded with my complete exoneration.
“I am able to return to work on Monday with my professional reputation intact.”
He added: “Having made this horrible, false allegation, Mr and Mrs Giles walk away. I only hope she is never in a position to put any other people though the same.”
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I was wondering when / if you would run this story.
What is INTERESTING about this story is this...
The female false accuser sought publicity, in order to flush out more alleged victims.
What happened was one of her former doctors came forwards, and then her case collapsed.
THIS IS IMPORTANT.
The reason this case is interesting, is this...
This female false accuser clearly KNEW her accusations were false, therefore she can not possibly have held any honest belief that were were other alleged victims out there.
Therefore, she was in fact appealing for more women WHO WERE PREPARED TO MAKE A KNOWINGLY FALSE ACCUSATION.
There is, simply and logically, no other possible interpretation of her actions.
Food for thought.
AfOR
There is an alternative explanation. She could have been delusional. She could actually believe that she had been assaulted, when in reality no such assault took place.
Either way this gives a good reason why 'he said, she said' cases should be treated with extreme scepticism unless there is additional evidence.
This is something I believe legal professionals are aware of, although the general public does not seem to understand. Nor does the media.
An accusation on it's own is never evidence of guilt.
Seasons of Tumult and Discord has a good post today. They even make reference to the FRS!
"The ancient rules in many cultures said that it took four female witnesses to equal one male witness may have had a very real, practical reason for existing. That the amount of false accusations many women are willing to make, that have extreme, permanent, life destroying consequences are too many to ignore and have a system of justice survive.
We have not progressed past the Salem Witch Trials, they have just taken a different form in our society."
Profound!
"Such complaints are especially damaging to doctors because of the high standards the public sets for the medical profession,” he said."
I say..F**** you, you little pigs. Are you suggesting only doctors should be protected from these vile nasty pigs who make false rape accusations.
Sorry about the language folks..but as a victim of a false rape acussation..I'm getting sick of hearing the pigs squeel about who should be protected against them, and who doesn't get protected from them.
Enabling false rape accusers is a perversion of our legal system.
The modern gender feminist / law enforcement missinformation ALLIANCE...is a stain on our legal system.
Another alternative medical explanation:
* Munchausen syndrome: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/295127-overview
As AfoR has mentioned previously, symptoms of "Cluster B" personality disorders (borderline, histrionic, narcissistic) are common in false accusers and many are undiagnosed. Current studies show that up to 6% of the population (in the US) may have borderline personality disorder (BPD). More women are diagnosed with BPD than men. Many of those with the disorder engage in distortion and vilification campaigns against their targets and very often find ways of making allegations that are hard to disprove.
Also, Google for pseudologia fantastica
http://www.springerlink.com/content/w871h754263x83p7/
I wonder if this gynaecologist had a nurse or other staff member present during the examinations? It's more important than ever for medical professionals have a "chaperone" even when performing minor procedures.
I’m getting a decidedly different “take” on this one than it seems some of you are.
I see this as a women actively seeking to have an affair with a doctor so as to be able to use consensual sexual activities for the purpose of blackmail – and, when that failed, a false claim to try to extract the money via the courts.
I gathered from these two statements that she was actively seeking to have an affair:
”As her story unravelled, it emerged she had sent him lurid messages, including a suggestive text asking him to christen her with his “Angus beef sausage”.”
&
”She said the evidence involved Mrs Giles saying to Dr Dowley she wanted a personal relationship with him, and that she had a high libido.”
Now, while there are lots of married women who go looking to have affairs, there are three things about this woman’s case that lead me to believe that she only wanted sex so as to be able to get money:
1) she targeted doctors – who would have both money, and the motivation to save their reputations and careers. (she may well have pursued other, non-professional men as well, but we have no evidence of such).
2) She files suit after being rejected – recall that: ”… she called off the £50,000 damages claim against Mr Thomson.”
3) Her husband seems to have been in on it at some level. This remark leads me to believe that he, too, was seen as culpable: ”Having made this horrible, false allegation, Mr and Mrs Giles walk away.” Perhaps he found a tidy way to combine a “cuckold fetish” with good old-fashion greed.
At least, that’s my take on the motivations behind this one.
On a positive note, it’s good to see women coming to the defense of accused men:
”Dr Stephanie Bown, director of policy and communication at the Medical Protection Society, which provides legal advice to doctors, called for the civil court system to be reformed to prevent vexatious allegations having a “devastating” effect on a doctor’s reputation.”
It seems clear to me that most people, regardless of gender, intuitively understand that evil and potential harm of FRA’s – it’s just that the issue is seldom on their “Radar”. I’ve often noted that it seems that many women don’t get it until it hits a loved one (and I certainly mean no offense to CBGirl nor others). Now, I’m having to admit that the same seems to hold true for many men as well.
While I applaud that his colleges stepped up for him, I’m fairly certain that until Dr. Thompson was targeted, they, men and women alike, hadn’t paid any mind to the issue. Sadly, it seems that it’s one issue that has been “kept quite” to the extent that it takes a situation involving someone personally known to demonstrate the dilemma, and it’s potentially devastating impacts to most people.
As Snark has done on this thread (and I on the previous one), check out Tallyrand’s piece on the Salem Witch Hunts, and give him encouragement to keep spreading the word about FRA’s. It’s important that as many as possible hear, and take either actions or precautions.
Snark said...
Seasons of Tumult and Discord has a good post today. They even make reference to the FRS!
"The ancient rules in many cultures said that it took four female witnesses to equal one male witness may have had a very real, practical reason for existing. That the amount of false accusations many women are willing to make, that have extreme, permanent, life destroying consequences are too many to ignore and have a system of justice survive.
We have not progressed past the Salem Witch Trials, they have just taken a different form in our society."
Profound!
Jan 5, 2010 10:16:00 AM
"We have not progressed past the Salem Witch Trials, they have just taken different forms in our society."
I felt compelled to edit this statement.
nice post. thanks.
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