JAILED doctor Michael Haslam has written an extraordinary letter to the Evening Press from his prison cell in which he compares his media "persecution" to that of David Beckham.

The former York psychiatrist also claims that the ongoing inquiry into the way complaints against him were handled by the NHS is a "waste of public money", and suggests he is the innocent victim of a witch hunt.

Haslam, 70, who is serving a three-year sentence for four indecent assaults on three former patients, claims that he and another former York psychiatrist William Kerr - who is also the subject of the inquiry - had worked "tirelessly" for more than 20 years to serve people with mental health problems at York's Clifton Hospital.

"What a pity some of the positive things are never mentioned. What a pity the press loves to build people up only to destroy them. David Beckham is a current obvious example."

The married England captain recently attacked the media for its coverage of "ludicrous" allegations that he had an affair with his former personal assistant Rebecca Loos.

Haslam said the inquiry was looking into "how managers handled complaints more than a quarter of a century ago, in an authority that has not existed for well over a decade, many of the members being dead, and new guidelines issued over five years ago after the last inquiry into the same issue! What a waste of public money".

He said he had not been a manager, and suggested: "Why doesn't your paper look into how much this futile inquiry is going to cost and what the money could be better spent on? There is a scandal that would help sell newspapers."

Haslam, of Crayke, near Easingwold, was originally jailed for seven years after being convicted of a rape as well as the assaults. The rape conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal earlier this year, while the other convictions were upheld. Kerr was found by a jury at a hearing-of-fact in 2000 to have indecently assaulted a patient.

Describing himself as "currently 'banged up' in Acklington" - a prison in the North-East - Haslam said the "minor charges" against himself still "held for the moment".

He asked: "Why do you continue to persecute us?" He claimed there had been "issues behind the witch-hunt", and strongly criticised and questioned the motives of some of the patients who had made allegations against them.

He added that he would not be attending the hearings at York's Hilton Hotel, despite suggestions last week by inquiry officials that he might.

Inquiry secretary Colin Phillips said today it was doing what it was set up by the Health Secretary to do -"to look into the effectiveness and appropriateness of procedures operated in the local health services".

The inquiry would make recommendations to the Minister that would aim to improve the situation for all NHS patients by providing for their complaints and concerns to be addressed "sympathetically, appropriately, effectively and expeditiously."

He said the inquiry cost would be published in its final report.

Kathy Haq, a spokeswoman for a number of former Kerr and Haslam patients, said: "Naturally he would feel like this about the inquiry, as he knows the truth will come out. Much more has already been revealed in the last week than we already knew."

Updated: 10:40 Wednesday, June 16, 2004