A DOCTOR who was jailed after sexually assaulting a woman patient has been struck off the medical register after a panel described his actions as a “gross abuse of trust”.

Dr Shahid Ayyoub, who formerly worked in St Helens, was found guilty in January of assaulting a 22-year-old woman, who was suffering from back and neck problems from a traffic accident, during an examination in Leeds.

Claiming he could perform a massage that would ease her pain, Ayyoub moved his hands across her back before touching her breasts and stomach.

He also grabbed hold of her head and tried to pull her towards his groin.

The case of Ayyoub from Walsham Gardens in Sutton Heath, went before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service this month.

Chairman of the panel, Dr Brian Crompton, said: “Dr Ayyoub’s conviction has brought the profession into disrepute and does amount to a breach of the fundamental tenets of the medical profession. His conviction also indicates that his integrity cannot be relied upon.”

He said that 53-year-old Ayyoub, who did not attend the hearing, had not apologised for his actions or “shown any remorse”. The disgraced doctor would be considered “deplorable by both fellow doctors and members of the public”, added Dr Crompton.

He continued: “The panel has concluded that the nature of Dr Ayyoub’s convictions is so serious as to be fundamentally incompatible with his continuing to be a registered medical practitioner.

“For these reasons the panel has determined that erasure is the only means of protecting patients maintaining public confidence in the profession and declaring and upholding proper standards of conduct and behaviour.”