A DOCTOR accused of molesting a girl with his own stethoscope after he took her on as a family babysitter has denied having ever met her.

Former Blackburn GP Barkat Chowdhury told a medical tribunal he had never laid eyes on the 14-year-old girl who claimed he had groped her while she was babysitting his twin sons.

Chowdhury did admit to having a vague recollection of her older sister but insisted that he had never met the complainant - referred to as Miss A - in his life.

Barkat Chowdhury, who is married, said: "Miss A was never employed by me or my wife.

"It was my sister-in-law who looked after my two sons mainly or other members of my family.

"There is no reference in my diary, which I have kept from the time, to having ever employed Miss A as a babysitter.

"I simply cannot recall having ever seen this person in my life.

"I can only remember her older sister babysitting for my sons for a short amount of time and my sister-in-law was usually always present at the house then."

Chowdhury's council, James Watson QC, told the second day of the GMC hearing in Manchester: "This is all pure fantasy that she had as a young girl."

Miss A denied these claims saying: "I'd had no sexual fantasies at this young age - I was young and naive and had never had a boyfriend."

Miss A also said she would be effected by the incident for the rest of her life.

"I could never have a male doctor examining me for gynaecological reasons because of what he did - I'd prefer to be ill.

"I will always ask for a female doctor for the rest of my life."

The alleged incident took place in 1979 while he was employed as a doctor at Blackburn Royal Infirmary and went unreported for more than 20 years until police launched the largest child abuse probe ever undertaken in Britain. The complainant - now 39 - then contacted detectives involved in Operation Nevada in November 2000. They arrested Chowdhury, now 62, at his family practice in Telford, Shropshire.

The Crown Prosecution Service later decided there was insufficient evidence to continue with criminal prosecution but the police still passed the evidence to the General Medical Council. Chowdhury, of Exeter Drive, Telford, denies serious professional misconduct.

The complainant said she worked with her older sister as a babysitter for Dr Chowdhury after she answered an advert in a paper shop.

(Proceeding)