Second woman says anaesthetist gave her internal examination

A second woman has told a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that a doctor carried out vaginal examinations on her as she …

A second woman has told a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that a doctor carried out vaginal examinations on her as she was being prepared to have her tonsils removed. She said the 35-year-old doctor forced his finger into her vagina and rubbed one of her nipples. The accused denies sexually assaulting two women in the Mater Hospital, Dublin, on July 28th, 1997.The witness, now aged 19, said she was referred to the Mater by her family doctor and was due to have her tonsils removed the day after the alleged assault. The accused, an anaesthetist, was to examine her.He came into the hospital room she shared with the first alleged victim. He asked her questions about her health and if she was on it until some months previously. He asked her why she was on the Pill and she told him she had a boyfriend.He motioned to her to lie on the bed and examined glands on her neck. He then pushed up her top and began to press on her abdomen.When he unbuttoned her trousers and pulled down her zip, she did not object because she thought it was part of the medical procedure. He placed his finger in her vagina for about 30 seconds.She thought his behaviour was strange but kept saying to herself: Don't be silly, he's a doctor".After he had finished, he patted on the thigh and said: "You'll be fine." He then lifted up her top and bra. She began to panic when she felt his hand squeezing her nipple. He moved his hand on to her breast while pressing her stomach with the other hand.She felt a sudden pain when he pushed his finger into her vagina a second time. She said to herself: "This is not going to happen again". She quickly sat up in the bed, forcing his hand away.She told him: "I don't feel very comfortable," but said it quickly and out of breath. He carried on talking as if he did not hear her.Asked by Judge O'Connor why she told the court she felt angry with herself, she replied: "Because I felt I shouldn't have let it happen a second time."Afterwards she met another alleged victim who had been examined before her who told her the doctor had given her an internal examination four times. The woman asked her if it had happened to her and she responded: "Yes, I got two".Cross-examined by defence counsel Mr Martin Giblin, the witness agreed the accused was friendly when she first met him and asked her a series of medical questions before the examination.She denied suggestions that she had lowered her trousers for him and said she did not object to the first vaginal examination because she had very little experience of hospital procedure. She remembered that a nurse was in the room for the last few minutes of the examination but said the nurse left about three minutes before the doctor. Asked why she did not make a complaint on the day, she replied she did not feel up to it. She knew the first alleged victim was making a complaint and told her: "You can tell them about me as well."The trial continues.