MIRROR
A doctor who slept with multiple women at his GP surgery has blamed his behaviour on a sex addiction.
Cambridge-educated Thomas Plimmer, 40, had regular sex sessions at work when he should have been treating patients, a tribunal heard.
The GP has now been found ‘guilty’ of several misconduct charges after facing accusations from half a dozen complainants, including one colleague who had claimed their weekly sex meetings at the practice in Swindon, Wiltshire, were ‘unwanted’ and sometimes forced.
The woman, referred to as Miss A, had told the tribunal she was ‘groomed’ into regular intercourse with Dr Plimmer at his surgery and said felt used as a ‘sex object’ to help his boredom.
It was also heard that he had sent explicit videos to her. Giving evidence at the Medical Practioners Tribunal, Dr Plimmer said all the acts were consensual – and argued the context of everything that took place was centred around his sex addiction. In their verdict on Thursday, the tribunal found the case against Dr Plimmer was “proved and determined” in relation to some of the counts and “not proven” in relation to others. Dr Plimmer will now face a further hearing in April next year to determine his punishment.
In what the chair Claire Lindley described as a “complicated outcome,” the tribunal ruled he sent unsolicited video of himself to Miss A engaging in sexual intercourse with another woman whilst at work, had his trousers undone, put her hand on his erect penis over clothes and carried out a sex act in front of her. The tribunal said allegations of kissing, touching, taking out his penis in front of her and two allegations of penetration, all without consent, were not proved. Threats to disclose information to her husband, slamming a door to hit her arm were also not proved.
The tribunal said the doctor at some point knew Miss A was vulnerable, and said an allegation he told her she should visit a suicide booth – in reference to a scene in US cartoon series ‘Futurama’ – was also found proved. Abusing a more senior position and using his power over her were found not to be proved.
The doctor had already admitted engaging in oral sex in the GP surgery with another woman, known as Miss B, during working hours. Dr Plimmer also accepted having sexual intercourse with a further complainant, Miss C, during working hours, and earlier admitted sending another woman – Miss E – an unsolicited photo of his penis, taken whilst at work, on two different occasions. In a conversation with Miss D, it was also found proven he had threatened Miss F, saying “if that c**t takes me to the GMC I’ll slit her throat. I know where she lives” or words to that effect. He had already admitted many of the allegations were sexually motivated.
During the hearing, Dr Plimmer had tried to blame many of his actions on a ‘sex addiction’. He said seeking out sexual activity “felt like a need”, adding: “I did lie in order to get that need met, and I was not honest with people to get that need met But there was no sense of me enjoying this because I like lying, or it gives me power, or it gives me control, they were all byproducts of trying to meet my need.” He went on to say: “I am sincerely apologetic to everyone I’ve lied to, and the consequences it had towards patients and not being there to care for them. I feel immense shame for everything I did.”
The doctor was accused by Mark Monaghan…
