Former Guildford GP Gets 10 Years For 23 Years of Sex Assaults

Published on: 17 May, 2019
Updated on: 17 May, 2019

Alan Tutin

Guildford ex-GP Alan Tutin was sentenced to 10 years and six months for a 23-year series of sexual assaults on female patients, mostly at the Merrow Park practice where he worked from 1980.

The offences were committed between 1981 and 2004, the Central Criminal court in London was told. The judge said his victims, aged from 12 to 46, were assaulted under the guise of breast or vaginal examinations, neither necessary, nor medically justified but performed totally inappropriately for his sexual gratification.

In December, 1918, Tutin, now 71, of Matfield, Tonbridge, Kent, was found guilty of 15 of 27 counts of sexual assault after a 10-week trial at the Central Criminal court.

Of the remaining 12 counts, he was found not guilty of seven and the jury was unable to reach a verdict in the other counts. On May 14, he was cleared over three of these at a second trial at Blackfriars Crown Court in London and the details of his first trial were released.

He was arrested in July 2014 and released under investigation. After many interviews, he was charged with 27 counts of sexual assault involving 25 complainants.

Map showing location of Merrow Park Surgery – Google Maps

Victim statements read out in court today described the trust they had placed in Tutin as their doctor and the violation they felt after he took advantage of that.

One victim said: “My initial response was a sense of being abused, violated and feeling dirty, and wanting a shower.” Another described how Tutin took advantage of her age and her naivety. “I was only young so was upset and confused by what he did,” she said, “I trusted him as a doctor and was brought up to respect authority and do as I was told, which is what I did.”

Another explained that the worst thing about what Tutin had done to her and others was “how he had been able to commit a crime by using the cover of a doctor and a medical procedure”.

Describing how she felt after what she had believed to be a routine appointment, a victim said: “In the immediate aftermath of what Tutin did to me I felt confused, embarrassed and nauseous and a feeling of revulsion about what had happened.”

Tutin was also described as a “predator”, by another of his victims, who said her ordeal had left her never being able to trust a male doctor again.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Haycock, the lead investigator, said: “Alan Tutin completely abused his position to sexually assault his female patients of a variety of ages over a long period of time. This was a gross breach of the trust that they placed in him as a doctor.

“I have nothing but praise and respect for the victims and everyone who has come forward and given us their accounts and evidence. I want to pay particular recognition and admiration to those who have had the courage to give evidence against Tutin in court.“

Many did not come forward at the time because they were embarrassed or were unwilling to complain for fear their allegations against a doctor would not be believed.“

I hope that the guilty verdicts reached in the first trial have given them, and others in a similar position, the confidence that even if you are making allegations against a person in a position of trust or authority and even if these allegations happened a long time ago, you will always be taken seriously and a thorough investigation will always be done.

“I also hope that the guilty verdicts will allow Tutin’s victims and all those affected by this dreadful set of events to put this ordeal behind them and finally get on with their lives.

“I am also very proud of the small team of officers in Surrey Police’s Complex Abuse Unit, and I thank and commend them for working tirelessly on this case to ensure that Tutin was brought to justice for his indefensible crimes.”