A GYNAECOLOGIST "used his position" to carry out a series of indecent assaults on more than 20 patients, a court heard.

Paul Vinall, 55, who worked at the Duchy Nuffield Hospital in Harrogate and others across the region, is alleged to have "touched the women intimately under the pretext of being a necessary physical examination".

Paul Worsley QC, prosecuting at Sheffield Crown Court, said the doctor preyed on the "vulnerability" of his patients.

He said: "He was using his position as a consultant to carry out indecent assaults in the course of those examinations, confident that they trusted him."

Vinall, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, also worked at hospitals including Leeds General Infirmary and Wharfedale General Hospital, Otley.

He denies 31 counts of indecent assault on 22 patients between 1981 and 2000.

The jury heard that he "repeatedly" subjected women to intimate examinations which "served no clinical purpose". It was alleged that no chaperone was ever present during the alleged assaults.

Mr Worsley said Vinall's patients, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were "vulnerable or anxious" about pregnancies or a particular condition, he added.

The court then heard from several patients, who recounted similar experiences. One of the patients was aged only 16 at the time of the assault.

Another patient said her examination had left her feeling "dirty".

Vinall told detectives he had been "staggered" by the allegations, and dismissed many of the allegations as "complete fiction or fantasy".

Mr Worsley said: "No doubt the defendant acted skilfully in respect of the many patients who still hold him in the highest regard.

"It is not suggested for a moment that he indecently assaulted every patient that he had."

The trial is expected to last eight weeks.

Updated: 11:53 Wednesday, January 16, 2002