Jury retires in doctor trial

David Kang Huat Lim, 41, is standing trial in the Napier District Court. Photo / Duncan Brown

The jury in the trial of a doctor accused of stupefying and indecently assaulting patients has retired to decide whether the GP sedated four men for the purpose of sexually touching them.

David Kang Huat Lim, 41, pleaded not guilty in the Napier District Court to five charges of stupefying and eight of indecent assault.

He is accused of giving four patients the Midazolam sedative while treating them for minor ailments so they could not resist his sexual advances. Lim was a GP at The Doctors in Hastings at the time.

Judge Geoff Rea today told the jury of five women and seven men they had to put aside any feelings of sympathy or prejudice in coming to their verdicts.

Judge Rea directly addressed Lim's homosexuality, a well-known fact of the trial, saying it was only relevant in the context of the issues raised by counsel during the trial.

Anything outside the context of the trial would be prejudice, he said.

The jury has heard eight days' worth of evidence, including testimony from the doctor.

Lim's defence counsel Harry Waalkens, QC, told the jury at the beginning of the trial that Lim was "overtly gay" and that this had created a situation "ripe for misunderstanding".

The doctor told the jury that the allegations were either made up or hallucinations.

In his summing up, Waalkens said hallucinations were possible, referring to research that hallucinations from sedatives can be visual, auditable and tactile.

Waalkens said although Lim's medical practice was "sloppy" he had never acted indecently.

Four alleged victims testified. All are Maori or Pacific Islander and three of the four are non-native English speakers.

The Crown said Lim's intentions when he administered Midazolam were not medical, but sexual.

Prosecutor Steve Manning told the court that each of the men, aged between 18 and 30, attended the clinic to be treated for minor ailments and woke up from the sedation to find their trousers undone, pulled down or removed.

He told the court Lim had lied under oath, and that he had had administered the drug and taken the risk of sexually touching the men because he didn't think he would get caught.

The jury was told they only had to join the dots to find him guilty of the 13 charges. Manning said it wasn't a coincidence that all four patients had testified to having similar experiences at the same practice with the same doctor.

Judge Rea told the jury that before they could find Lim guilty of stupefying any of the patients they had be sure that he administered the drug intending to commit a later indecent assault.

Judge Rea said Lim would be not guilty of stupefying if the jury found he administered the drug and only later decided to indecently assault the patients when he realised the circumstances.