A married doctor who raped a student nurse at a hotel in Stirling “must now face the consequences for his horrific behaviour”, said a top cop, after he was jailed for four years.
Dr Manesh Gill, 39, carried out the sex attack on the victim he met on a dating site after luring her to a city hotel bedroom on December 8, 2018.
A judge told Gill that the woman had described “a distressing and frightening encounter” which lasted for a couple of hours.
Lord Tyre said: “You have no criminal record and you have clearly been a valued member of the medical profession.”
But the judge said he was in “no doubt” that the gravity of the offence could only be marked by the imposition of a custodial sentence.
He told Gill that he would be placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely following his sentencing.
Detective Inspector Forbes Wilson, of the Public Protection Unit, said: “The conviction and sentencing of Gill sends a clear message to anyone found guilty of sexual offences, you will be brought to justice.
“Gill must now face the consequences for his horrific behaviour.
“The victim has shown tremendous bravery in coming forward and telling her story and I would like to thank her for her assistance during our investigation. I hope the outcome will give her some form of closure.”
The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Gill went onto the Tinder site calling himself ‘Mike’ before saying he “superliked” the young woman’s profile on the dating app prior to their meeting.
The woman said that he got her to go to his room to use a toilet and poured her a “really strong” pink gin and lemonade before she was attacked.
During evidence at Gill’s earlier trial she fought back tears as she described how she was sexually assaulted as her body “shut down”.
She told prosecutor Stephanie Ross: “He was on top of me. I was trying to push him off. I couldn’t.”
“I just felt like my whole body was stuck to the bed. He was having sex with me. I wanted to go home. I felt as if I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything,” she said.
Father-of-three Gill, of Corstorphine, Edinburgh, who worked as a doctor in the city, admitted that he brought a condom, Viagra and a bottle of the woman’s favourite drink – pink gin – to the hotel.
The GP had denied raping the woman but was earlier unanimously convicted of the sex crime committed when the victim was incapable of giving or withholding consent.
Jurors deleted an allegation that Gill administered an intoxicating substance to the victim, who was unable to control her movements.
The court heard that following his arrest he told a colleague that he was worried police would find morphine in the woman’s system.
The woman told the court that Gill had “superliked” her profile on the dating site and they messaged each other through Snapchat for about six weeks before meeting at the hotel.
She said that during the meeting she was fine and said: “I didn’t feel uncomfortable or anything.”
She had three or four gins during the evening and Gill was drinking something that “looked like cola mixed with something”.
She needed to use a toilet but Gill told her that public toilets at the hotel were out of order and invited her to use the one in his room.
“I took his word for it. I thought he was just being nice. I didn’t think anything of it. It was fine,” she said.
She got into a lift with Gill and travelled to his room where she noticed the bottle of pink gin and a bottle of vodka. She used the bathroom and came out to find that Gill had made her a drink. She took only a few sips as she said it was “really strong”.
The woman said: “I just felt like my body was heavy and I just felt sleepy and tired as if I wanted to go to bed.”
She said she told Gill ‘no’ and ‘stop it’ during the attack. She eventually managed to get up and went to the bathroom. She said: “I came out of the bathroom and said ‘I know what you’ve been doing to me’.” She left the hotel and contacted police.
Gill claimed that the sex was consensual and said: “I’m a married man with a professional job and I was meeting women on dates. I didn’t want it connected with my job or my wife.”
Defence solicitor advocate Iain McSporran said Gill maintained his denial of the offence. He said Gill was “greatly respected and valued” as a GP.
Detective Inspector Forbes Wilson said Police Scotland “remain committed” to tackling sexual abuse and encouraged victims to come forward. He said: “We have specially trained officers and work with partners to provide support to victims. I would encourage anyone to report sexual abuse in any form, as all reports will be thoroughly investigated.”
