Rapist doctor on suicide watch

Wells, 52, has been transferred to 955-inmate category B Bullingdon prison near Bicester, Oxfordshire, after being convicted at Winchester Crown Court on Monday.

A prison source said Wells was on 24-hour watch.

He said: "He has showed no emotion about the verdict but staff are taking no chances."

During his trial, Wells, formerly of Hangleton Road, Hove, said he had been planning suicide before his arrest in February 2003.

Judge Keith Cutler cancelled the former forensic medical examiner's bail last Friday after he told prison guards he wanted to kill himself.

They told police, who brought the matter to the attention of the court and Wells' tie was immediately confiscated.

When the jury returned to court, Wells insisted on appearing before them wearing a tie and had to borrow one from his solicitor.

His defence counsel, Timothy Mousley, told the court fears about Wells' mental state were "well-founded".

After a four-week trial, Wells was found guilty of raping and indecently assaulting an 11-year-old girl, drugging two sisters aged five and 11 and indecently assaulting the elder sibling.

He filmed himself raping the first girl on a contraption he called Satan's Pillow and also dressed her in a French maid's outfit, a basque and provocative adult underwear.

He spiked the two sisters' Angel Delight with sedatives after befriending their mother and luring them to a flat he owned in Southampton.

Giving evidence, Wells claimed he had wanted to frame himself so he could give himself a lethal injection of insulin and not be mourned by his family and friends.

He said he was in despair at the 29-year age gap between him and his student girlfriend, his 130-hour working week and fears about his health.

The General Medical Council (GMC), which had allowed Wells to continue as a doctor after he was acquitted on child sex charges nine years ago, has now suspended him.

The Argus has learnt Wells used to exploit legal loopholes to privately offer single vaccines to children whose parents were worried about the triple jab for measles, mumps and rubella.

He has now been dropped by parents' support group Jabs, which had recommended him.

Wells charged £50 for each injection at a surgery room he rented in Upper Rock Gardens, Brighton.

One mother, who did not want to be named, got Wells' name from Jabs, checked he was approved by the GMC and wrote to him for more details.

He sent her prescriptions, which she paid for at a chemist and he administered.

She said: "I was with my child the whole time at these visits and I hasten to add - thank God - that nothing inappropriate happened.

"I am so angry and I have terrible feelings of guilt that I took my child to someone like him but, of course, I had no way of knowing because there were no details available to me.

"He came across as pleasant and just got on with the job. At the time I remember thinking he must be making lots of money giving the jabs, which took all of a few seconds.

"My child, thankfully, wasn't involved with any of these terrible events but we should still never have had contact with him and I so feel for the children and their parents that were involved.

"I hope they can take a little solace knowing he is behind bars, where he belongs."

Jackie Fletcher, national organiser of Jabs, said Wells had been recommended to the group by several Brighton parents who had been impressed by his treatment of them.

He was added to the Jabs mailing list of doctors offering the single vaccines but was removed when another doctor tipped the group off about his arrest on child abuse charges.

Ms Fletcher said: "As soon as we were aware of that problem, we removed his details and circulated new information to all our contacts. We didn't hesitate.

"We make it quite clear that parents are getting the information in good faith and must check with the Health Care Commission each and every time that they do have a doctor registered with them."