CARDIFF DOCTOR SENTENCED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULTS ON VULNERABLE WOMEN

A medical professional who targeted vulnerable women has been sentenced to a total of 20 months in prison.Cardiff GP Dr Rajiv Saxena, 62, was found guilty of sexual assaults after a jury convicted him last month. The court was told he stripped naked and committed an indecent act in front of an unsuspecting patient in his surgery after hours while they were alone, which caused the victim considerable trauma and nightmares, to the extent she considered suicide.Saxena, operating from Willowbrook Surgery in St Mellons, Cardiff, denied two charges of sexual assault, one in 2006 and the other in October last year. However, he was convicted of both charges. The court heard he claimed he stripped because he did not want to get cream on his clothes and alleged the patient encouraged him to touch her, claims which the court found unsubstantiated.Another victim, a woman with both physical and mental health issues, was assaulted when Saxena visited her unannounced at her home at around 9pm, persuading her to go to her bedroom and removing her pyjamas. He then applied cream and touched her genital area before leaving when she jerked away.The judge described Saxena's actions as taking advantage of highly vulnerable women to satisfy his own sexual urges, stating that the impact on the victims would last a lifetime. Saxena's wife and two children remained loyal to him through the proceedings.Saxena received an 18-month sentence for the first assault and a 20-month sentence for the second, which are to run concurrently. The court emphasized the lasting harm his actions inflicted on these women, saying, "The effect you had on these vulnerable women will be with them for the rest of their lives."