A DOCTOR'S 12 year career was in ruins last night after he was jailed for groping a teenage patient.

Dr Unt Tun Maung was working as a locum GP when he cupped, squeezed and fondled a young woman’s breasts during a routine examination at a Teesside medical centre in July 2012.

The married father-of-one, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, was a diligent, valuable and competent doctor who had previously devoted 12 years to the NHS and given much to his Buddhist community, Durham Crown Court heard today (Friday, April 17).

But Andrew Hurst, mitigating, told the court the 43-year-old had lost everything following a “moment of madness”.

Judge Christopher Prince told Dr Maung he had committed a gross breach of trust against a vulnerable teenager and sentenced him to 18 months in prison.

Dr Maung has been suspended from general practice since October 2013 and now faces a General Medical Council investigation. But Judge Prince said his NHS career was “unquestionably over”.

Dr Maung was convicted of a single charge of sexual assault following a trial in March, when prosecutor Peter Makepeace told the jury the teenager attended the medical centre complaining of a chest infection.

During an examination, Dr Maung asked her to remove her bra and cupped and squeezed her breasts, one by one.

Today (Friday, April 17), Mr Hurst said Dr Maung maintained his version of events – that he did not ask the woman to remove her bra and did not touch her inappropriately.

After the incident, the woman texted a friend to say she felt she had been sexually abused. A complaint was made to the NHS, although the police were not alerted for “several months”, Mr Makepeace said.

Mr Hurst asked the court to suspend any prison sentence against Dr Maung, saying everything he worked, lived and existed for had gone.

Dr Maung came from a medical family and had worked in the NHS since moving to the UK in 2000, Mr Hurst said, and was held in high regard both professionally and personally.

He is an intelligent, giving and caring person but his earning potential has been emasculated and he has lost respect in the wider community, such that his conviction “effectively amounts to a life sentence”, he added.

His victim, meanwhile, now feels anxious when seeing a doctor.

In a statement read to the court, she said had not wanted to believe she had been taken advantage of, but she could not rid it from her mind.

When she visited another doctor a few months later with another chest infection, she panicked while being examined, the court heard.

Judge Prince told Dr Maung he had previously been of “exemplary” character, had made a significant contribution to society, both as a “diligent and dedicated doctor” in the NHS and in the wider community, and was held in high regard by numerous people of high standing.

However, only an immediate prison sentence would be appropriate for the crime and deter others from behaving in such a way in future, the judge concluded.

Dr Maung will be on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.

Judge Prince declined to order him to pay any compensation or court costs. However, his victim could pursue a claim through the civil courts.