'Fifteen minutes with paedophile GP changed my life'

A growing number of women in West Yorkshire are coming forward to accuse their family doctor of sexual assault. As they speak out for the first time, their historical allegations are disturbing - and horribly similar

- SHERON BOYLE

To many families in the West Yorkshire town of Halifax, Dr Thomas P Cairns was the epitome of the genial, trusted family GP. Nothing seemed too much effort for the twice-married father-of-five. But the Irish-born Catholic GP, who practised in the town between the 1970s and 1990s, hid a terrible secret.

Cairns died in 2006, having retired a decade earlier. At least four women have in recent months reported Cairns to West Yorkshire Police but because he is dead, no charges can be brought against him. However, in September 2022, one of the women was paid several thousand pounds by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for serious assaults she suffered for at least three years at the hands of Dr Cairns.

One of his victims was Marie Lake, who is now a mother-of-three. Speaking publicly for the first time, Marie, 57, says she was 15 and on her way to school when she went to see Dr Cairns in November 1987.

“I asked to go on the Pill to ease my periods and I was seeing a boyfriend, who would become my husband. He immediately got up and locked the surgery door, explaining he had to examine me. I didn’t expect that. Never handing me a gown, he told me to strip naked to get weighed and then lie on the bed.”