Doctor cleared of sex assaults at Telford hospital
A senior house doctor today walked free from court after being cleared of sexually assaulting a female colleague at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.
Dr Mahendar Katarapu, aged 38, was accused of touching a health worker at the hospital.
But following a three-day trial, a jury found him not guilty of two offences of sexual assault in a unanimous verdict.
Dr Katarapu, formerly of Edgecombe Way, in Shrewsbury, and an Indian national, denied the offences and told the jury that he had not done anything wrong.
He said he did not know why the claims were made.
Judge Anthony Lowe told him: “You are discharged from the dock.You are free to go.”
The judge thanked the jury for their efforts.
The case was a retrial after a jury earlier this year failed to reach a verdict over the allegations. After the same trial Dr Katarapu was cleared of five further allegations of sexual assault relating to three other colleagues.
He is currently suspended from the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust.
