Alan Tutin

A former general practitioner, Alan Tutin, has been sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison for a series of sexual assaults committed against his patients over more than two decades. Tutin, aged 71 and residing in Matfield, Kent, abused his position of trust at the Merrow Park Practice in Guildford, Surrey, where he carried out unnecessary and invasive examinations on women and girls seeking medical help for minor ailments.

The offences, spanning from 1980 to 2004, involved 15 counts of sexual assault for which Tutin was convicted at the Old Bailey in December. Jurors heard harrowing accounts from victims, including one woman who described how Tutin groped her breasts in a manner she likened to 'Benny Hill', fondling them 'as though he was feeling a couple of melons'. Another incident involved a 12-year-old girl whom Tutin assaulted after she visited the surgery for a sore throat or a mole check. Prosecutor Sally O'Neill QC highlighted the era's 'doctor knows best' culture, which discouraged complaints and allowed Tutin's predatory behaviour to continue unchecked for years.

Tutin, a father of four whose wife was also a GP at the practice, performed unwarranted breast and internal examinations, ostensibly for medical purposes but driven by his own sexual gratification. Complaints surfaced as early as 1999, leading to two prior trials that resulted in no adverse findings. Subsequent investigations by police and the General Medical Council culminated in a warning in 2003, after which Tutin ceased practising in 2004. He was arrested in 2006, but prosecution did not follow until the case was reopened in 2013.

Originally accused of molesting 25 female patients, including a nine-year-old girl, Tutin was convicted on 15 charges relating to 15 victims, some of whom were teenagers at the time. He was acquitted on eight counts, and a retrial at Blackfriars Crown Court on three indecent assault charges, including one involving the nine-year-old, ended in acquittal on Tuesday. At sentencing, Judge Nigel Peters QC condemned Tutin's actions as 'the most serious abuse of trust' courts encounter, stating: 'You violated the faith your patients had in you. You carried out wholly unnecessary procedures and examinations, no doubt to fuel your own sexual gratification.'

Defence barrister Louise Sweet QC argued that prison would be particularly harsh for a man of Tutin's age and lack of prior experience with incarceration. However, Det Ch Insp Richard Haycock of Surrey Police described the assaults as a 'gross breach of the trust' patients placed in him. An NSPCC spokesman echoed this, noting: 'Tutin's patients went to him in good faith, seeking his wisdom and reassurance. Instead he used his position for his own depravity over two decades, targeting vulnerable women and young girls.' The case underscores the profound betrayal inherent in medical misconduct and the long-overdue justice for Tutin's victims.