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Allegations of Sexual
Abuse in NZ |
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The wife of the doctor facing 37
charges of sexual assault told the High Court at New Plymouth that she was
standing by her man. The woman took the witness stand
late in the morning of the defence case, expected to conclude on Friday. She spoke of her husband's
mannerisms: "He tends to purse his lips, like so," she said,
demonstrating for the jury and packed public gallery. "He tends to
enlarge his eyes when he is concentrating on something." Her husband, whose name is
suppressed, came from a family of doctors and was brought up to see medicine
as a vocation, she said. "As such, he tries to be
available to patients 24 hours a day," she said. "He tries to
accommodate all patients whether they can pay or not." She spoke about life as a doctor's
wife and since the complaints, about incidents alleged to have occurred
between 1981 and 2002, which came to light about two years ago. "Almost always, patients have
come before family and we have had to get used to that," she said.
"The past two years have been a test, but I do believe in stand by your
man," she said when asked by defence counsel Susan Hughes if she was the
equivalent of Tammy Wynette's country music classic. The woman acted as receptionist at
one of her husband's clinics until 1983. "I would not be here lying
for him and I would not be here today if I did not believe in (him),"
she said. The court also heard from the defendant's
eldest daughter, who described her father as a man of strong Christian
values. "He's often spoken to me about the satisfaction he gets from
healing, and saving lives." She also described one of the
complainants, a family friend until her complaint, as always partaking of the
family's tradition of hospitality. The rest of the day was taken up
with evidence from two GPs, Thomas Marshall and Ian Smiley. Dr Marshall OBE, a Mt Eden GP for
40 years and past president of the NZ Medical Association, told the court
that having a nurse attend intimate procedures had not been mentioned when he
trained in obstetrics in 1965. "When I joined my colleagues
in 1966, they never used chaperones for intimate examinations and I continued
that practice," he said. "The issue never arose as to whether it
was courteous or anything else, but about the time of the Cartwright Inquiry,
the issue came to be discussed." "In the early 1990s I decided
it would be wise to start asking, particularly young women who were new patients,
whether they would prefer to have a chaperone present, and I've continued
with that practice." Dr Smiley, of New Plymouth, told
the court that the accused doctor was generous with his time and everything
he did. Ms Clarke then turned to the
complaints. "It's not a medical
examination for a doctor to grope and squeeze a woman's breast at the same
time thrusting his fingers in and out of her vagina, is it?" Dr Smiley agreed it was not. "No medical examination should
be sexualised to the point the doctor gets an erection," Ms Clarke said.
"I would agree. No doctor
should get an erection in that circumstance." Dr Smiley said he liked to hand a
blanket to his patient to cover herself. He agreed he would never watch a
patient undress. "It certainly would not put
the patient at ease." |
