A doctor from Bolton has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a patient.

Dr Abdelaziz Elrefeay has been on trial this week after being accused of sexually assaulting one of his patients at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury on January 13, 2021.

However, yesterday, Friday, a jury at Bolton Crown Court has found Dr Elrefeay, 35, not guilty of the charge, having deliberated on the case for one hour and 50 minutes.

The four-day trial heard evidence in which the prosecution said he sexually assaulted a young woman in her 20s while performing an examination on her.

The court heard how, in the early hours of January 13, Dr Elrefeay was stationed on the A&E ward at Fairfield General and he saw a patient in the "see and treat" cubicles on the ward who was complaining of chest pains and a racing heart. 

In court, the complainant claimed he touched her breasts underneath her top while she was being examined, which Dr Elrefeay denied. 

After concluding the examination, Dr Elrefeay claims that the woman gave him her mobile number and asked him to contact her as she was anxious about her health.

But the complainant said that he must have taken her number from her medical record. 

The following night, at around 10.10pm on January 13, Dr Elrefeay, of Beehive Road, Great Lever, was on shift at the hospital when he texted the complainant, checking on her condition. 

After he told her who he was, she accused him of "touching her up", "chatting her up" and was asking if she lived alone and if he could come around to her house, all of which he denied.

Giving his final summary of the case before the jury reached their verdict on Friday, prosecutor Mark Kellett said: “Either she’s telling you the truth or she stood in that witness box and told you a bare faced lie, a lie that she made up at 10.20pm on January 13, 2021.

"A lie she maintained when she spoke to the police, a lie she maintained in the witness box to you.

“It is my submission it isn’t a case of a mistake that in the case of a physical exam the doctor brushed her breast and she got the wrong end of the stick.

"Those two accounts aren't the case of different interpretations. They are strictly different."

Defending, Zoe Johnson KC said: "You have been reminded that Dr Elrefeay is a man of previous good character, both in this country and abroad, he has never been in trouble in any country.

"You also heard from his colleague, Dr Elshaarani, who said he is a good doctor, engaging and friendly, well mannered and someone who always wanted to do his best for his patients."

She added: "Dr Elrefeay has accepted he shouldn't have sent those texts, it goes without saying. He says it was 'foolish and naive'.

"His first message asks her how is she feeling, which is entirely consistent of a caring doctor asking after their anxious patient."