A DOCTOR has been convicted of perverting the course of justice after creating fake messages to his flatmate to sabotage his relationships.

General practitioner Javed Saumtally allegedly sent himself abusive texts and invented a police officer as part of a deception plan.

The 28-year-old could face jail after being found guilty of what prosecutors said was a “determined” and “technologically adept” deception.

He denied a charge of perverting the course of justice, but was found guilty on Monday, September 6, after a trial at Hove Crown Court.

Jurors took five hours and 12 minutes to find Saumtally guilty by unanimous verdict.

Judge Jeremy Gold QC told him that he must prepare himself for an “almost inevitable custodial sentence”.

The case was adjourned for a report to be prepared and Saumtally will be sentenced on October 18.

During the trial, prosecutor Jonathan Atkinson said the defendant set about “sending abusive and derogatory messages from unknown numbers” to his flatmate.

He told jurors the various lies were part of a “concerted ploy by Saumtally to deliberately undermine the relationships of his flatmate … to (make him) feel under threat and harassed as a result, all the while pretending to act as an understanding friend and companion”.

“He was devious, he was determined and technologically adept.

“No-one else stood to gain, he had the motive, he had the means throughout these incidents.

“He created false exhibits and he lied to police.”

Saumtally denied faking text messages when he gave evidence at the trial.

It was suggested to him that he was jealous of his flatmate, with whom he had previously had a brief relationship.

Defence barrister Janet Weeks argued that the absence of Saumtally’s flatmate from the trial meant there are “simply too many unanswered questions without him giving evidence”.

Saumtally spent six years at Brighton and Sussex Medical School before qualifying in 2017.

He worked as a junior doctor in Brighton before going to work at a hospital in Ipswich.