A Jewish GP from Salford has been jailed for eight years for sexually assaulting female patients during examinations.
Dr Wayne Davis, 69, was sentenced after a jury at Manchester Crown Court found him guilty of conducting unnecessary, intimate examinations on two women between 1995 and 2006.
Gill Petrovic, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West’s rape and serious sexual offence unit, said: “Wayne Davis was in a position of trust as a doctor and a highly respected man within the community. He abused his position to commit sexual offences against women under his care.
“The CPS worked with Greater Manchester Police to support the women through the prosecution. We applied to the court for special measures so the women could give their evidence in the best way for them, so they did not have to face the man who had abused them.
“I would like to thank the women for supporting the prosecution and hope they can move forward knowing Davis has now been sentenced.
“I hope this case will give other survivors of sexual abuse the confidence to come forward. It is never too late to seek justice.”
In 2006, one young woman suffering with gynaecological issues sought the help of Dr Davis. He told her he was performing a procedure, but then sexually assaulted her. She reported the offences in May 2020, and Davis was arrested.
In June 2020, a second young woman read about the arrest and came forward to report a similar incident in 1995 when Davis had performed an unnecessary gynaecological examination on her.
During the police investigation Davis denied committing the offences, claiming any procedures he carried out would have been necessary.
On 14 December 2023, Davis was convicted of two sexual offences. He was found not guilty of two offences and a verdict could not be reached in relation to a further count.
He was subsequently found not guilty of the remaining count on 5 December 2024.
Davis was highly respected within the community and trusted and relied on as a GP at the time of the offences. Two counts of assault by penetration and attempting to cause a person to engage in sexual activity without consent were not proceeded with.
In a victim statement which she gave to Manchester Crown Court, one of the victims, speaking by video link, said: “As a person with autism, I trust people easily and believe in their integrity. This trust was shattered by Dr Davis when I was newly married and just 18 years old.
“I had moved from London to Manchester and my ex-husband’s mother had encouraged me to trust Dr Davis and see him for a new health problem. But when I met Dr Davis that very first time, he conducted an intensely invasive examination to check if I was [a virgin]. It was lengthy and uncomfortable and affected my marriage greatly”.
The woman, speaking through tears, told the court: “My marriage went downhill after. I felt confused and did not enjoy physical intimacy…I eventually ended my marriage two years later and struggled to cope thereafter”. She had been treated for manic depression and bipolar disorder after suffering from a nervous breakdown.
Dr Davis, the woman asserted, “violated me in a way I cannot forget and the trauma stays with me, every single day.”
Erica Marks, chief executive of JSAS (Jewish Sexual Abuse Support, formerly Migdal Emunah), said: “I am in awe of the bravery of our clients, especially our first client, for their initial reporting of this crime, which then led directly to the second client speaking of their own experience.”
“I must thank colleagues at Greater Manchester Police and the CPS as they have supported our clients from the outset, and have worked with us and our clients as a team.
“This has been a gruelling experience for the victims across a very lengthy process. The criminal justice process presents many problems for those reporting sexual abuse, and to remain committed to the conclusion of this action is testament to the bravery of all who speak out. This case has shown that collaborative working is key to achieving healthy outcomes for those affected by sexual abuse.”
“The JSAS team would like to thank the many communal leaders and rabbonim who supported and advised us and our clients. We must continue to work together to make our communities safe for those reporting sexual abuse, with robust processes to ensure children and adults are believed and supported to understand what they have been through so they can regain good health and wellbeing”.
Ms Marks said that it had been nearly 30 years since the first of her clients was sexually abused by Dr Davis. The client had been urged by a member of her family, a health professional, to report the case.
She told Jewish News that there had been “a lot of resistance” in parts of the Jewish community in terms of bringing Dr Davis to court. “That’s our collective challenge”, she said. But she added: “We are aware of other clients who have experienced abuse, and who have been too frightened to come forward. It is our job to support people and to enable circumstances in which it is safe for them to speak out”.
Her organisation’s ISVAs (Independent Sexual Violence Advisers) had supported the clients who came forward to give evidence in this complex case. She said: “To my knowledge, it was the first multi-victim case with a high-profile Jewish perpetrator and Jewish victims to have come to court and been successful.
“My team and I have sat in court for many hours and supported our clients while they gave evidence that a trusted GP in their community had abused this trust and sexually abused them.
“This case highlighted so many issues we hear about sexual abuse cases and gave our team a deep understanding of why so few cases come to court and gain convictions.
“In this case, the victims were very young women, barely out of childhood, newly married, with little understanding of their own bodies, of how to be intimate with their husbands, and of what was appropriate or inappropriate touch.
“They were all recommended to Dr Davis by family members or other trusted community leaders, as he was well-known and trusted within the strictly Orthodox community. His wife ran the local girls’ seminary, and girls were routinely sent to Dr Davis for health checks, or after they were married”.
Manchester Crown Court (Google Maps)
The GP was “finally brought to justice”, Ms Marks said, “by the extraordinary bravery of a few women in the Manchester Orthodox Jewish community, who knew that by coming forward they risked ostracisation, bullying, and disbelief. Set against a cultural backdrop of Jews not speaking ill of a fellow Jew, and also frequently with a lack of belief in anyone who reported this type of abuse (especially abuse done to them by an upright, male member of the community), this has been a story which has taken decades to conclude”.
If you have been affected by this story and need support, please contact JSAS in strictest confidence on 07519 980774 or email [email protected]
