A former Yeadon GP was today found guilty of indecently assaulting seven of his women patients over a 17-year period.

Doctor Gerald Walmsley, 50, was convicted by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court of nine out of ten charges of indecently assaulting eight women.

Three of his victims were patients in Yeadon between 1980 and 1986. The other five were patients at Walmsley's Lime Hill Road surgery in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

The jury of eight women and four men returned their verdicts after more than 11 hours of deliberation.

The jurors were still considering their verdict on the last count. Judge David Griffiths told them he would accept a majority verdict on the last charge.

Married father-of-two Walmsley of Langton Green, Kent, showed no emotion as the jury foreman returned the nine unanimous guilty verdicts.

His wife Yvonne and two grown-up adopted daughters sat holding hands as the verdicts were returned.

The court was told that Walmsley groped the women as they lay on his consulting room couch.

The first assault was in 1983 when the GP was working at the Yeadon Health Centre.

The last assault was in November of last year when his final victim contacted police and made a complaint. After publicity other women came forward.

The two-week trial has heard that the doctor preyed on vulnerable young women who came to him with a variety of medical problems.

The court heard that the two sisters from Yeadon were assaulted in separate attacks. One sister was 16 when she visited him to have a tattoo removed from her buttocks and the other sister was a young mum.

The court was told Walmsley removed the tattoo but when the teenager returned to have the stitches removed he touched her sexually.

He said: "You'll be pleased to know that you respond successfully to the sexual touch."

Her sister visited him in May, 1994, soon after her daughter was born.

Joanne Glynn, QC, prosecuting, said: "He asked her if her sex life was OK and if she was reaching orgasm. She said she was not bothered. On the next few occasions she visited him she told him she was feeling down since the birth.

"One time he said he found her "desirable and very attractive". She thought he was trying to rebuild her confidence. He told her to slip off her clothes and get on to the couch He touched her sexually and gave her a lingering hug."

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