A family doctor has denied having sexual thoughts while examining his female patients.

Dr Rodney Tate, 67, is on trial at Lewes Crown Court accused of nine counts of indecent assault.

Suspended from his practice at the Old Steine Surgery, Brighton, in August 2004, he told a jury yesterday he saw himself as an expert in examining pregnant women.

He confirmed to one patient she was carrying a baby just by staring at her breasts, the court has heard.

However, medical experts have accused Tate of using the pretext of medical examinations "to satisfy his sexual gratification and enforce his position of power in the doctor-patient relationship".

Married with four children, Tate told the court he had no recollection of any of the consultations he had performed on witnesses who had appeared against him over the past three weeks.

One witness had told the court she had been left lying naked on the examination couch while Tate had paced the room, pondering.

He then returned to repeat two internal examinations as well as a "rubbing her breasts", the court heard.

Tate said he would normally have asked the patient, who he later diagnosed as suffering from wind or a grumbling appendix, to cover up but he could not remember.

However, when asked if he had left the patient naked for sexual reasons, he added: "Not at all. I didn't touch her for sexual reasons at all. I was trying to find out what was wrong with her."

Tate was further asked by defending QC William Coker: "Were there any sexual thoughts in your mind during any of the procedures you're describing?"

Tate replied: "None at all." Tate has denied all charges of indecent assault.

Explaining why he had asked other witnesses to remove their tops and bras before listening to their hearts, Tate said he was feeling for the "apex beat" under the nipple. He also denied "squeezing and kneading the breasts of a 15-year-old patient.

Of the prosecution's 17 initial charges, eight have been dropped over the last week, due to the credibility of evidence and the age of some accusations, dating back to 1977. The trial is expected to last another week.