Sex addict doctor who slept with patients in Swindon says he feels 'immense shame'

A doctor who slept with multiple women at his GP surgery has apologised for his 'disgusting' actions - but blamed it on a sex addiction.

Cambridge-educated Thomas Plimmer, 40, is facing a misconduct hearing accused of having regular sex sessions at work.

He is facing accusations from at least half a dozen complainants - including one colleague who says their weekly sex meetings at the practice in Swindon, Wiltshire, were 'unwanted' and sometimes forced.

The woman - referred to as Miss A - claimed earlier in her evidence she was 'groomed' into regular intercourse with Dr Plimmer at his surgery and said she felt used as a 'sex object' to help his boredom.

But giving evidence at the Medical Practioners Tribunal, Dr Plimmer said all their acts were consensual - but argued the context of the everything that took place was centred around his sex addiction.

He said: "Seeking out sexual activity felt like a need, and I did lie in order to get that need met, and I was not honest with people to get that need met

"But there was no sense of me enjoying this because I like lying, or it gives me power, or it gives me control, they were all byproducts of trying to meet my need, you're right in the sense that my compulsion was greater than the will to resist."

He acknowledge: "I was a doctor absolutely, and I have a responsibility to be professional and to act in a way that upholds the standards of the profession, and I fell well short of that on many occasions.

"But I never really felt as though I played on that, or used that as a method to pursue people.

"I think a lot of the problem was that I wasn't thinking about any consequences. I was immensely myopic, very shortsighted and didn't think about the consequences of my action, which was wrong and I feel a lot of shame about that."

The doctor was accused by Mark Monaghan, presenting the case on behalf of the General Medical Council, of "manipulating" people with "charms and lies and anything else in your armoury.

He responded: "I have to accept that I did manipulate people because I wasn't honest, I did manipulate people in that way.

"I didn't get off on lying, I didn't get off on being manipulative, the lying was part of a compulsive behaviour."

When asked if his actions were more about power than sex, he added: "Power is not something I want over anybody at any point in time. In my role as GP I never became a GP or a doctor to assert power over anybody or gain power, I did have power because of what is expected of me as a doctor and I understand that now.

"I would never strive to have any power over any individual whatsoever in a personal relationship. That echoes with control as well, I never sought to have control of anybody and nor did I want to control anybody in my private life or otherwise.

"I do not feel I tried to exert any control over anybody, or Ms A, for example. I am sincerely apologetic to everyone I've lied to, and the consequences had towards patients and not being there to care for them."

On the six women who have lodged the complaints being discussed at this tribunal, Dr Plimmer said: "Those are six people who are obviously upset, and in some cases, the lifestyle I was living and what I did was disgusting and there's no excuse for that. I betrayed their trust, I disrespected them, and I lied and I cheated and there's no excuse for that.

"I feel immense shame for everything I did."

He added: "I did feel guilt about what I was doing, that may be cancelling things, that may be lying, what happened is it's not a case of not feeling guilty or not being bothered, it's a case of compulsion outweighs that, the compulsion overrides guilt, it transcends 'not being bothered'.

"It doesn't mean I don't care; it doesn't mean I don't feel guilty, it doesn't mean I'm not bothered about people, I absolutely am."

When asked why he referenced he was a 'doctor' prominently on his dating profiles, he added: "I'm proud to be a doctor, I'm proud to have worked in the NHS. I'm not trying to deny the fact that it may have helped people engage with me. For me it was about putting my best foot forward and being a doctor is part of that.

"I wasn't deliberately attempting to come across on a dating profile as trustworthy because of my profession."

Dr Plimmer told the tribunal in his mind there were "stark differences" in his account of his relationship with Miss A than she gave in her evidence.

He told the tribunal, that despite her claims she was sometimes forced into sexual acts, that everything he did was consensual.

He added: "Not only was she consenting - they was keenness and enthusiasm and enjoyment of what was happening between the two of us.

"At no point did I get the sense she did it to placate me."There was no sense whatsoever she was not enjoying the interactions we were having."

Giving her evidence earlier in the tribunal, Miss A, outlined how she felt 'groomed' by the doctor into becoming a "sex object for a sex addict."

And she told the hearing she would 'bear the scars" for life after what she says he did to her.

She said Dr Plimmer would only target "vulnerable" woman and claimed his perversions were all about "power."

Miss A argued everything she was said to have "consented" was "coerced" and added: "There were multiple non-consensual acts."

She added: "I was very compliant at the time," she added.

"I don't deny this, but how I ended up in that role is different," she added.

She said it was "no coincidence" he chose "vulnerable" victims to "amuse him.""He knew he was in a position of power," she added. "We had had other conversations about my isolation and the way I responded to people."

"Then when I said no to touching me, he did. I said no to penetration and he did.

"What he likes is power. This is all about power."

Miss A added: "As a man in a position of power to me it was completely ingrained, it was self-protection, it was easier to do what you are asked.

Miss A said when she first raised concern she only spoke about an incident where he had made her place her hands on his penis.

She said the first time he had penetrated her, she told him "no" as she said there was a "no touching rule."

She added: "He knew I said no as he was doing it - and that wasn't in the rules. He pushed those boundaries and they definitely did not include penetration."

Miss A said that "once that boundary had gone" it was "easier for that to be how things were."

She claimed after that first encounter there were "times when she complied" and did not "verbalise a no" and other times she did.

She added: "There were times when I allowed penetration and times when I said no.

"I am not what proud of happened - and it is not what I am now."

"This was a man - who was in a position of power - who did things to me without consent - and that damage is done to me.

"Those scars will be there forever - it has completely impacted my life."

The tribunal is examining allegations that during the period May 2018 to September 2019, Plimmer behaved in a sexually motivated way towards Miss A, whom he knew to be vulnerable.

It is also alleged that between January to June 2020 and in February 2021, he behaved in a sexually motivated way towards four other women.

It is further alleged that in March 2021, he made a threat towards another woman.

The tribunal earlier heard the doctor went on to invite two women he met on dating sites to the surgery where he engaged in sex acts with them during working hours.

On a separate occasion, he is accused of sending unsolicited pictures of genitals that were 'taken at work' to another women he met on a dating site.

The hearing continues.