A VULNERABLE colleague of Dr Thomas Plimmer has claimed that she was a victim of his coercive control for months and that he raped her several times.
Dr Plimmer, who was based in Swindon at the time, is currently facing a Medical Practitioners Tribunal amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Mr Plimmer is accused of abusing his senior position over a colleague, penetrating her without consent, sending her unsolicited sexually explicit photos and videos, sexually assaulting her and encouraging her to kill herself - all between May 2018 and September 2019.
In powerful testimony delivered on September 14, the alleged victim, known as Ms A to protect her identity, described how she felt her history of suffering abuse and domestic violence had contributed to Dr Plimmer's grip over her.
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She also claimed that after establishing the alleged coercive sexual relationship with Dr Plimmer, it gradually escalated leading to the establishment of a 'no touching rule', but following this she claims he raped her.
After this she said she "complied" with further instances of sex and that during this period she sometimes was able to tell him 'no' but Dr Plimmer ignored her, raping her further times.
In Dr Plimmer's defence, his lawyer Tom Day put it to her that she was looking back on normal behaviour in a negative light and was "seeing demons that aren't there".
He referred throughout the day to several messages appearing to show a friendly, flirty consensual and reciprocal sexual relationship between Ms A and Dr Plimmer.
She was then further asked by Mr Day if she "had any agency" in the relationship between her and Dr Plimmer.
In response, she said: "It's hard to say, I feel I did the best I could with the limited skills that I had. I was effectively still in some way a five-year-old girl being told what to do.
"At the time, if I had the skills and the voice to say I'm only doing this because I feel made to, I wouldn't have been in a position where I felt that I should."
Mr Day further pressed: "You think your decisions to engage in this behaviour stem from your history and as a result, you feel you were used and discarded. But at the time, however much you may regret it now, you consented to it."
An emotional Ms A replied: "No there was a lot of coercion, and multiple instances I did not consent.
"With regards to if I regret it, I have had consensual relationships with men since this that weren't great - that is a regret - but I haven't taken that anywhere, I accept that was a poor choice I made.
"This was a man, in a position of power, I should've been able to trust, who did things to me without my consent, and this is damage that has been done to me for the rest of my life.
"This is not about regret, I don't want another woman who is as vulnerable as I was then, to go to somebody they should be able to trust and be treated, and coerced and manipulated, in this way.
"There are many other women, I may be the only person who took the hit of being disembowelled in front of you all, but I am not the only one."
Dr Plimmer is also facing allegations of behaving in a sexually motivated way towards four others and of threatening a fifth woman.
The tribunal is still ongoing and could run as far as September 29.
If you have been, or are currently, the victim of domestic abuse or coercive control and need support please contact Swindon Women's Aid for help on 01793 610 610.
In an emergency dial 999.
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