Gay nurse ‘groped the patients’
A nurse fondled three patients during routine sexual health check-ups, a court heard.
Ian Wingrove, 32, allegedly ‘took advantage of the trust a patient puts in a nurse’ when he carried out the assaults at the Dean Street clinics without.
On one occasion he wheeled his chair over to a patient so his own groin came into contact with the man’s hand as he took a blood test, Southwark Crown Court heard.
He is said to have touched one man at the clinic on 7 December 2013, and assaulted two others at the Dean Street Express facility on 1 July and 7 November 2014.
Richard Merz, prosecuting, said: ‘Three different men, unknown to each other, went to one or other of these clinics for a sexual health check up.
‘The crown’s case is that in each case the defendant took advantage of the trust that a patient puts in a nurse to touch them in a way that was not professional but sexual.’
The first patient went in for a ‘routine check up’ despite not having any symptoms and was taken into a room alone with Wingrove, jurors heard.
He expected detailed questions about his sexual history but Wingrove asked for a ‘fairly brief history’ before getting the man to drop his trousers.
As the patient lay on a couch awaiting an intimate swab to be taken he felt Wingrove take his manhood in his hand, Mr Merz claimed.
The nurse is said to have ‘rocked’ the man’s penis and ‘pulled down the foreskin’.
The patient claims Wingrove ‘gave no explanation’ for what was going on before saying ‘oh, it’s growing’.
Mr Merz then described how Wingrove then performed a sex act before telling the patient ‘not to tell anyone’.
The nurse also allegedly remarked: ‘you look shocked, I have never done this before’.
The patient alerted other staff to what had happened but Wingrove carried on working as a nurse following an internal investigation, the court heard.
An American man also claims he was sexually assaulted by Wingrove some seven months later at the Express Clinic.
He was asked to drop his trousers and then groped by Wingrove, jurors heard.
Wingrove allegedly told the man: ‘All the guys I am seeing today are getting erect’ as he touched his private parts.
Describing how the assault continued the prosecutor said:
‘As he was taking a blood sample [the patient’s] hand was out in front of him.
‘He says that the defendant was sitting on a rolling stool and that the defendant moved that stool right up close to him so that as he was going through the process of taking the blood sample [the patient’s] hand was right in the groin of the defendant.
‘There was not much the patient could do about it because he was giving the blood sample at the time.’
A third man is also said to have been the victim of a sexual assault from Wingrove in a similar manner.
He went just for a routine check up with a friend and on discovering his friend had not needed to drop his trousers alerted a patient advisory board, it is said.
Wingrove is claimed to have spent ten minutes ‘looking for symptoms’ as he knelt or crouched in front of the man’s exposed nether regions.
‘At the Dean Street Express Clinic this kind of examination was not generally carried out anyway,’ Mr Merz told jurors.
In an interview with police Wingrove read from a prepared statement before answering only ‘no comment’.
As part of the statement Wingrove claimed the first alleged victim was ‘venting his own embarrassment about what happened’.
In regards to the other two men he said as far as he was concerned he had been ‘completely professional on both occasions’.
‘It clearly was sexual because of the overall circumstances and the intention of the defendant,’ claimed Mr Merz.
‘We submit the examination was not called for given that none of the complainants had highlighted any symptoms.’
The free NHS Clinic in Soho offers emergency appointments and offers HIV infection treatment to patients who have been exposed.
It also offers free condoms and emergency contraception, as well as family planning advice.
The Dean Street Express opened in 2014 as the first clinic in the world with an on-site Infinity machine, which delivers results in six hours.
Wingrove, of Thomas Way, Braintree, Essex, denies three counts of sexual assault.
The trial continues.
