A Dundee doctor has been cleared to work following allegations he sexually assaulted a woman at a house party.
Dr Robert Lawton, 36, who is in a post in the trauma and orthopaedic surgery at Ninewells Hospital was claimed to have forced himself upon a woman in her friend’s house in March 2011.
Criminal charges were dropped before the case even called at court but due to the assertions made against him, the Oxford University-educated man was forced to refer himself to the General Medical Council (GMC).
The tribunal had already heard evidence from his accuser — identified as Miss A – who said she fell asleep next to a friend at the house party in Dundee four years ago.
The woman admitted to being “quite drunk” while at a bar earlier in the evening. As a result, she admitted not having much recollection of her time there.
Her next memory was leaving the club and going to a flat before Dr Lawton allegedly pulled down her underwear and had sex with her while she burst into tears.
The hearing had already heard that Miss A did not report the alleged attack to police for eight months and that it was nearly two years before Dr Lawton was charged with rape, in February 2013, which was subsequently dropped after an investigation by the procurator fiscal in Dundee.
In the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service’s panel findings it was determined the charges against Dr Lawton were “not proved”, with the report adding: “Something happened in that room to cause Miss A to become upset, inconsolably so.
“What that was, the evidence does not establish.
“The quality of Miss A’s evidence does not provide a reliable evidential basis to find the facts proved.
“The panel has reviewed all of the other evidence adduced by the GMC to see if any was supportive of Miss A’s account.
“Accordingly, the panel is not satisfied that the GMC has discharged its burden to prove the facts of the allegation to the requisite standard, namely the balance of probabilities.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said: “We are unable to comment on matters relating to individual members of staff.”
The Tele was unable to contact Dr Lawton for comment.