Dr Davinder Jeet Bains assaulted more than two dozen women and covertly filmed more than 100 on watch with built-in camera

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

A family doctor who used a secret camera inside his James Bond-style wristwatch to record himself abusing female patients has been jailed for 12 years after admitting a string of sex charges.

Dr Davinder Jeet Bains, 46, used his position as a GP at a medical practice in Royal Wootton Bassett, near Swindon, Wiltshire, to assault more than two dozen women, Swindon crown court heard.

The watch has a built-in camera on the face – with simple on and off buttons to record – and can be bought online for less than £60. Detectives branded Bains a sexual predator and said he had covertly filmed more than 100 women.

Bains admitted a total of 39 charges: 13 of assault by penetration, 13 of voyeurism, 11 of sexual assault and two of sexual activity with a child.

He also asked for a further 65 offences – 10 of sexual assault by penetration, eight of sexual assault and 47 of voyeurism – to be taken into account when Judge Douglas Field passed sentence.

He pleaded not guilty to three charges of sexual assault and a single count of administering a noxious drug with intent to commit a sexual offence. The charges will lie on file.

Bains, of Nyland Road, Swindon, committed offences against 27 women – aged from 14 to 51 – between July 2010 and May 2012.

The police investigation began in June last year when a 19-year-old woman told officers she thought Bains had filmed her as she showered and said she had been sexually assaulted by him in Swindon.

When detectives arrested Bains at the Tinkers Lane Surgery in Royal Wootton Bassett, they discovered his hi-tech wristwatch with spy camera. They later recovered 361 high-quality video clips from Bains's watch and home computer.

Passing sentence, Field told Bains he had breached the trust patients put in their doctor.

"When you committed these offences you breached this duty of trust in the most grievous way," he said. "You are a disgrace to the medical profession."

Detective Inspector Mark Garrett, head of Swindon CID, said he welcomed the sentencing of Bains. "A large number of female patients, including teenage girls, put their trust in this man to treat them with the professionalism, care and discretion that we all expect of our family doctor," he said.

"He utterly betrayed that trust for his own sexual gratification and I hope that today's sentence goes some way to helping his victims get some closure on what has happened.

"This is without doubt the most serious offending I have seen by a GP in my 30 years' service and it is an exceptional case.

"This was a gross abuse of a position of trust and I would very much like to repeat what the judge said. He is a disgrace to the medical community."

Garrett paid tribute to the courage of a teenage girl who came forward with her concerns about Bains's behaviour.

"Without her coming forward we would have known nothing of Dr Bains's shameful activities in the privacy of his consulting room at the Tinkers Lane Surgery," he said.

"I would also like to acknowledge the bravery of that young woman and the patients who were also his victims.

"They provided accounts of what took place and told us they were prepared to give evidence, had this case gone to trial. Happily they were spared that additional ordeal."

Garrett declined to comment on whether the surgery should have reported the complaints it received to the authorities but added: "That was a frustration in the investigation."