A teenage girl today (wed) told how a psychiatrist

A teenage girl today (wed) told how a psychiatrist fondled her breasts when she visited him after suffering from nightmares.

The youngster, just 17 at the time, claimed John Harding Price, 70, slyly unhooked her bra as he examined her back and then groped her chest as he stunned boyfriend looked on.

Then he allegedly made her bend over in her bra and knickers before slapping her bottom and telling her to get dressed.

She is one of three woman who claim that the 71-year-old psychiatrist behaved in an inappropriate manner towards them during consultations.

The slim brunette, now aged 19, told the GMC: ‘I was extremely shook up.

I did not really know what was going on.

‘I could not believe what was taking place.

‘I felt really uncomfortable and embarrassed.

My boyfriend went bright red.

‘

The youngster, from Grimsby, Lincs, was referred to Dr Harding Price at his surgery in Lincoln after being run over by a car on Christmas Eve 1995.

Since the accident she suffered from back problems and recurring nightmares, and went to see the doctor in August 1998 for a report for use in a legal case.

She claims she believed he was going to assess her before helping with her bad dreams.

When she arrived at the Lawn Medical Centre in Hafod, Sewell Road, Lincoln, Dr Harding Price invited her and her boyfriend Chris into his consulting room.

She said he began to chat about general matters before suddenly asking her intimate questions about her sex life.

The teenager told the committee: ‘He asked me about my sexual relationship with my boyfriend.

‘He asked if we had sex with eachother.

I did not see why it was of any relevance but I said yes.

‘Then he asked if we had any problems and I said no.

‘Then the doctor wanted to examine me but I did not see why.

‘He asked if I wanted a female there, but said I could have Christopher in the room, seeing as he had seen me before because we had slept together.

‘I wanted my boyfriend in the room.

I was feeling very edgy and nervous.

‘

The girl, referred to as Miss X, said grey-haired Dr Harding Price then ordered her to strip off before examining her with his stethoscope.

She said: ‘He told me to undress down to my underwear.

He seemed slightly joking.

I had a bra and knickers on.

‘He asked me to sit on the bed and he listened to my chest, first at the front and then round the back.

‘I felt him lifting my bra off my back and I thought he was going to put the stethoscope underneath it.

‘Then I felt it undo and he took my bra off.

He did not give me any warning at all that he was going to do it.

‘He came round and took it off.

He then cupped my breasts and said he was listening to my chest.

‘He then checked down my back.

He asked me to bend over and he was holding onto my hips and moving me.

‘I was very nervous, I just wanted to get out of there.

‘I knew he had done something wrong by holding my breasts like that and even taking my bra on.

‘No doctor has ever done anything like that before.

‘

Miss X claimed that she repeatedly asked Dr Harding Price if she could get dressed but he kept refusing saying that he needed to examine her again.

He then allegedly spent 30 minutes discussing her medical history as she sat there in her underwear.

Then, after again refusing to allow her to get dressed, Dr Harding Price examined her once more.

She added: ‘He was sat in his chair and he asked me to bend over in front of him and he put his hand just slightly down my knickers and started rubbing on my back where it hurt.

‘He didn’t say anything when he did that.

When he finished he said: ‘Ok, I am done,’ and he slapped my bum as I got up which I did not like at all.

‘I asked if I could get dressed and he said yes.

‘

The girl claimed that when she left the surgery she was so upset her boyfriend gave her a hug and told her to call her mum.

The teenager later told her mother and they agreed to go to a different doctor.

The committee has also heard that in March 1998 a woman, referred to as Mrs Y, visited him for help after her schizophrenic husband had expressed violent thoughts.

But Dr Harding Price allegedly drew pictures of male and female orgasms, before bombarding her with questions about their sex life and later wrote to her GP saying: ‘She is only a little girl.

She is not prepared to have any sexual activity or contact or even consider the matter.

‘

It is also claimed he wrote directly to the woman’s husband saying: ‘The issue is her failure as a wife.

‘I wanted to assist her to grow up and become a useful wife.

‘She appeared to object to being given the difference between male and female activity.

‘I can only hope she will now have realised her duty and will mature in these matters.

‘

Jane Sullivan, for the GMC, said that the third woman, Miss Z, saw the doctor at the Grimsby Primary Care Centre in September 1999 suffering from a severe head-ache.

It is alleged he asked her questions about her sex life including whether she could achieve an orgasm before diagnosing depression and sending her away without medication.

It is said her head-ache was later found to be caused by a sinus problem and treated with antibiotics.

Dr Harding Price, of Sewell Road, Lincoln, admits seeing all three patients but denies inappropriate behaviour and serious professional misconduct.

The hearing continues.

ends

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