13th Feb 2015

Paediatrician Michael Salmon now behind bars

Dr Michael Salmon was an eminent Consultant Paediatrician who worked with sick and vulnerable children in various hospitals throughout his professional career.  Indeed, he worked at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire which has recently been the subject of unwelcome attention as a result of the allegations against Jimmy Savile.  It is not thought that Dr Salmon and Jimmy Savile colluded.

Dr Salmon raped and indecently assaulted young girls in the 1970’s and 80’s.  As was common at the time, Dr Salmon considered he was “prosecution proof” because nobody would believe the testimony of a young victim over him, an eminent member of the medical profession.

The former consultant paediatrician appeared at Reading Crown Court facing serious allegations that between 1973 and 1988 he indecently assaulted children on at least 11 different occasions and raped three children.  It was also alleged that he procured abortions of child victims who fell pregnant as a result of his actions. The charges related to 8 victims and covered the period when he worked as a leading consultant at Stoke Mandeville.

His actions only came to light in 2003 as a result of the Metropolitan police’s operation Yewtree.

Each allegation related to a young girl the Defendant met in his capacity as a doctor.  Any patient is entitled to an absolute confidence in their Doctor and all of the victims expected Dr Salmon would act in their best interests and treat them according to best medical practice.  However, Dr Salmon abused his position of trust in the most blatant and horrendous manner.  The jury heard that Dr Salmon – so-called – was no longer a doctor, not because he had retired, but because he was struck off the medical register in 1991 after being convicted in 1990 of three counts of indecent assault against young female patients.

Dr Salmon’s modus operandi was that he would examine young girls in the privacy of a consulting room whilst insisting they be screened from their parents, or whilst their parents were outside the room, ostensibly, on grounds of medical ethics and privacy.  Of course, Dr Salmon used the opportunity of being alone with the young girls to abuse them.  On some occasions he fondled their breasts under the pretence of listening to their heart and would carry out internal examinations for which there was no medical justification without a nurse being present or wearing surgical gloves.

In one particularly horrendous instance, a young girl who believed she was pregnant, attended Dr Salmon. The girl was extremely distressed and Dr Salmon offered to undertake an abortion. Unbeknown to the girl the manner of the abortion would have been illegal, but in any event was conducted in the bedroom of Dr Salmon’s home where he produced a tube which he said would suck out the foetus.  Not surprisingly the girl suffered internal injuries which made her bleed. She went to the bathroom to wash herself and on returning Dr Salmon told to lie on the bed as “one favour deserves another”.  He then raped her.  If this were not enough, two weeks later Dr Salmon telephoned the girl to say that he thought she was going to have twins and that she had better see him again as the first procedure had not worked. Dr Salmon said he would conduct another abortion at his home.  He tried to perform the same procedure again but on this occasion the young girl managed to fight her way out before he was able to rape her.

On another occasion Dr Salmon was treating a young victim aged between 12 and 14 years.  He befriended her and in giving evidence she claimed that Dr Salmon had told her to refer to him as “Uncle Mike”.  Whilst she was an inpatient at Stoke Mandeville, Dr Salmon and two other men allegedly raped the girl after which she was then taken back to the ward and deposited on her hospital bed by a porter.

On 6th February 2015 Dr Salmon was convicted. In jailing him for 18 years, Judge Joanna Cutts QC remarked that this was a “rare case of cold-blooded sexual exploitation against children”.  She described him as a cold and manipulative man.

Several of Dr Salmon’s victims who were raped were at court and wept in the packed public gallery as they saw their abuser jailed.

The story serves to illustrate, if such illustration were necessary, the absolute necessity of reporting sexual abuse to the authorities. So often victims do not think they will be believed over the evidence of a senior professional figure. Whereas in the past the police were reluctant to investigate allegations of sexual abuse where there substantial discrepancies between the evidence of the victim and the abuser, nowadays such investigations are much more common and do lead to convictions of “prosecution proof” abusers.

At Robsonshaw solicitors we have successfully represented numerous victims of sexual abuse.  If you or a family member have suffered sexual abuse, please call us and we will speak to you on a confidential, no obligation basis.  To speak with Sam, call her on her direct dial, 01392 345333 or email at sam@robsonshaw.uk

Category: News Updates