Medic who secretly filmed female patients and kids walks free from court because he has a ‘voyeuristic’ disorder

A DOCTOR who led a double life as a peeping tom has been cleared of sexually motivated behaviour after insisting he only did it because he has OCD.

More than 100 videos of a sexual nature were found on the laptop of Dr Anush Babu, 41, with the footage including images of women's skirts as well as of his female patients during intimate examinations.

But while the A&E doctor was charged with 10 counts of voyeurism, he escaped with a suspended jail term for one charge of outraging decency after claiming he had a medical condition similar to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

The married father of three, from Basingstoke, told the court he only behaved like he did to relieve bouts of "tension and stress" with a string of medical experts agreeing with him.

He said the issues dated back to when he was a child.

The details emerged at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing in Manchester where a disciplinary panel struck off Babu for misconduct - but ruled he was not guilty of sexually motivated conduct after accepting the expert evidence.

The peeping element remains in the form of an obsessive compulsive disorder that relieves the overwhelming stress he experiences

Dr Raymond Goodman, specialist in 'Psychosexual Medicine'

He could now appeal to get back on the medical register.

Babu was arrested after using his mobile phone to film five female patients during intimate examinations with the doctor also secretly took five video recordings of young people getting undressed at public swimming baths.

He also filmed up a woman's skirt in a Halford's store while taking footage of nurses working alongside him.

Police confronted him at work after claims he took video of children at Basingstoke Aquadrome and seized his phone.

The hearing was told the incidents occurred between October 2007 and November 2011 when Babu worked at the Accident and Emergency Department at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough and St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey.

Later officers found around 100 videos of a sexual nature on the doctor's laptop which included 'upskirt footage' from a device placed in a shopping basket and secret filming of women in showers through windows and over the tops of cubicles. Some of the recordings were made abroad.

The hearing was told the footage of victims in hospital had been ''goal directed'' and would zoom in on parts of the bodies which Babu had deliberately positioned so he could film intimate areas more easily.

The General Medical Council claimed at the time of the recordings the doctor's voice showed no signs of distress or anxiety.

But in one report, consultant psychiatrist Dr Martin Baggaley said: "It is a deeply ingrained pattern of behaviour which is more common when he is under psychological stress. Like many such behaviours, the individual experiences a build up of tension and the realisation of the need to engage in the behaviour.

"He then engages in the behaviour which relieves the anxiety. In this case I believe it is the performance of the act which provides the relief. The behaviour is therefore similar to compulsive disorder."

Another doctor Dr Raymond Goodman, a specialist in "Psychosexual Medicine" concluded Babu had a medical condition known as Voyeuristic Disorder and said: "I think it is possible that what he says is true - that the sexual element of his behaviour is very diminished or totally absent but the peeping element remains in the form of an obsessive compulsive disorder that relieves the overwhelming stress he experiences."

In ruling Babu's fitness to practise was impaired, Chairman of the MPTS panel Sara Fenoughty said: "In normal circumstances the Tribunal would have inferred sexual motivation from the content of these video recordings.

"However, in the light of the expert evidence to which reference has been made in this determination, it is essential to bear in mind that these actions were the consequences of a disorder.

"In the circumstances of this case and in view of the credibility of the essential account given by you of that disorder, which the Tribunal has accepted, it has concluded that the acts did become decoupled from sexual motivation and the making of the video recordings the subject of the allegation were the result of your compulsion and no more."

But she added: "The tribunal considers your actions in making recordings of patients during intimate examinations and of children in changing rooms, were abhorrent and you breached the trust that patients place in doctors.

"You continue to lack full insight into the significance of your actions and their gravity. Allowing you to return to clinical practice, could seriously damage public confidence in, and the reputation of, the medical profession, as well as the public's trust in its regulation.

Babu argued being struck off would be "draconian and disproportionate" and claimed he completed treatment for his disorder and claimed his conviction was "unfair". He said the chances of a repetition of his conduct were "very low".

In November 2013, at Winchester Crown Court, he was given six months in jail, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to undergo 12 months of supervision after being convicted of taking ''upskirt'' footage of a woman in Halfords.

At the time a judge said the doctor had acted in "a totally perverted manner" said it was "extremely troubling" that prosecutors had dropped charges relating to him filming patients.