Doctor David Lim jailed for sexual assault liable for deportation

Disgraced doctor David Lim has been assessed liable for deportation after he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for sedating and indecently assaulting his patients. Photo/Duncan Brown

A doctor jailed for indecently assaulting his patients faces further consequences for his crimes - deportation.

David Kang Huat Lim, 42, who is a New Zealand resident, has been assessed by Immigration NZ as an individual liable for deportation because of his offending.

The disgraced doctor was found guilty of stupefying four male patients and indecently assaulting three of them during an eight-month period in 2014 while working as a GP at The Doctors in Hastings.

After facing trial three months ago he was found guilty of five counts of disabling and five of indecent assault with not guilty verdicts delivered for another three counts of indecent assault. Last Friday he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment.

Yesterday an Immigration New Zealand spokesman said any deportation decision would be made "before the end of his prison sentence".

The spokesman said, while the department could not comment further on the individual case, in general people who were liable for deportation and sentenced to a prison term were normally deported at the end of their sentence.

Born in Malaysia and trained in Scotland, Lim had lived in Hawke's Bay for more than 10 years, working at the Hawke's Bay Hospital's emergency department before practising at The Doctors clinic.

Someone risks deportation when convicted of a criminal offence.

With no family in New Zealand, it was noted by his defence lawyer, Harry Waalkens, QC, during sentencing last week that Lim was "certainly at risk of deportation".

"He has loved his life in New Zealand and enjoyed his time here and very much wants to stay here."