Doctor denies sexual assaults

Dr Buchan denies the charges against him

A doctor accused of sexually assaulting six university students told his trial that he had been the victim of "a kangaroo court".

Dr Allan Buchan said the other partners at Airthrey Park Medical Centre had initially been supportive of him.

But he told Stirling Sheriff Court on Monday that they changed their minds and became critical of his conduct.

He said his colleagues became "hysterical" before telling him not to touch his patients' underwear.

There were fairly heated discussions in the practice

Dr Allan Buchan

"They had a kangaroo court and became absolutely hysterical about what I should do about pants etcetera," he said.

"They wouldn't listen to my explanation."

Dr Buchan had earlier told his trial that his colleagues had advised him to stop touching his patients' underwear after students began claiming he had molested them.

Dr Buchan, 40, of Ochiltree, Dunblane, denies eight charges of sexually assaulting six Stirling University students.

The court heard that he had a meeting with Dr Gregor Murdoch and Dr Caroline Renwick after a second student complained about his behaviour in 1999.

The doctor was told that his conduct defied the rules and principles of the practice.

'Touching underwear'

Dr Buchan said: "There were fairly heated discussions in the practice about it.

"They didn't want me touching underwear. They weren't happy about any sort of touching at all.

"At the time they suggested that the patient should take their clothes off and cover themselves with a blanket.

"That led to a dispute because if you have a blanket over someone, you can't observe what you're doing without removing the blanket."

Dr Buchan said a "major chasm" developed between him and his colleagues over the issue.

The trial is being held at Stirling Sheriff Court

"It was a matter of detail because there didn't seem to me to be a great difference between pushing a blanket down and pushing underwear down," he said.

Dr Buchan also denied behaving improperly towards any of his patients and accused one of the students of lying.

He also accused his alleged victims of making up the charges against him out of malice and because they did not fully understand his methods.

Dr Buchan admitted that he did not always go "by the book" when carrying out examinations.

But he said he followed the recommendations of a medical book he studied at university, which said that taking down underwear was an "essential" step when examining the abdomen.

The trial continues.