Former Saints captain did stroke 17-year-old's nipples during GP consultation, tribunal finds

Dr Jon Raphael, who was also on the Northampton Saints' board, was reported to police by the girl after the appointment at The Mounts Medical Center in 2014. The girl alleged that he had behaved inappropriately towards her after she sought advise following several missed periods.

The police took no action but passed a file to the General Medical Council, who took the case to tribunal, despite Raphael retiring that year.

A judgment published yesterday showed that a panel threw out some of the allegations, namely that Raphael had inappropriately touched the girl's pubic area and had not advised her correctly or recorded the consultation properly.

However, panel members upheld some of the complaints, including that Raphael took out the girl's breasts and rubbed them.

The doctor, who the panel found was less believable than the teenager in giving evidence, told the panel he was looking for signs the girl was pregnant.

But the panel said such a method was outdated when a pregnancy test was much more accurate.

In conclusion, the judgment reads: "He neither obtained Patient B’s consent nor arranged for a chaperone before undertaking an unnecessary breast examination, which also involved squeezing Patient B’s breasts and stroking her nipples.

"Taking all these matters into account, the tribunal concluded that Dr Raphael’s actions in the breast examination and in making comments both about her breasts and about the attitudes of women generally to their breasts were sexually motivated."

The hearing will continue on 23- 26 January, when the tribunal will consider whether the Raphael's fitness to practise is impaired and whether he should be struck off.