A FAMILY doctor from Kirklees has walked free from court after indecent assault charges against him were dropped.
GP Ian Cowie was told during a brief hearing at Newcastle Crown Court that the Crown Prosecution Service was not proceeding with allegations of indecent assault on two women.
In the third of three individual retrials last week, the 51-year-old was found not guilty of indecently assaulting a female patient at his practice in Batley.
Juries also cleared the doctor in the two others.
The media was banned under the Contempt of Court Act from reporting the retrial proceedings until they ended.
Dr Cowie was jailed for a year in 1993 for indecently assaulting three women in his surgery.
The doctor, of High Street, Hanging Heaton, was found guilty of three offences of indecent assault. He was cleared of a further two counts.
He immediately launched an appeal and the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions and ordered a retrial, which was conducted in three stages.
Three judges at the Court of Appeal in London ruled that his convictions were "unsafe" because of a mistake by the original trial judge at Leeds Crown Court.
The General Medical Council confirmed Dr Cowie was suspended from practising until the conclusion of court proceedings.
"We will be requesting information from the court and we will be looking to see if further action is necessary," a spokeswoman said.
A West Yorkshire Police spokeswoman Commented: "These cases are always difficult to investigate and prosecute, particularly when they centre on expert specialist knowledge."
