A doctor accused of drugging and sexually abusing three young girls told a court he was plotting to engineer a scandal so he could commit suicide.

Robert Wells wept repeatedly as he told a jury he was in despair at his failing health, his huge debts and the 29-year age gap with his latest girlfriend.

Wells, 52, a police forensic medical examiner and GP, faces 11 charges relating to alleged attacks on two 11-year-olds and a six-year-old, all from Brighton.

The prosecution alleges he drugged the girls with sedatives mixed into milkshakes and Angel Delight, then assaulted them and filmed the attacks using a video recorder between autumn 2002 and spring 2003.

Wells, beginning his evidence at Winchester Crown Court yesterday, said he began going out with a 19-year-old student from the Midlands in summer 2000, when he was 48.

She insisted she wanted to marry him after completing her studies but he was worried she would leave him for someone younger.

He said he was also distressed after suffering similar symptoms to his ailing father, including a tremor and failing eyesight and hearing.

Despite working up to 130 hours a week and earning £350,000 a year, he was struggling to pay several mortgages while supporting his girlfriend's family and previous partners.

He admitted not having paid any tax since 1994 and fearing the Inland Revenue was about to "catch up" with him.

Wells said: "I was finding it difficult to cope with the pressure of the work and the hours I was doing but there was not any financial way I could stop.

"Also, I did not want to be a future burden and knew I would not be able to leave her any other way."

After taking a ten-minute break to collect his emotions, he revealed he had planned to give himself a fatal injection of insulin but first wanted to arrange his financial affairs so his girlfriend would inherit his homes and life insurance policies.

He owns properties in Hangleton Road, Hove, and Priory Avenue, Southampton, as well as two motor homes.

Wells said: "I was concerned not just to push myself over the top but to die in such a situation that the people left behind neither missed me nor regretted my passing. I would have to engineer a situation where I was likely to be facing a long prison sentence."

He described organising a surprise 60th anniversary party for his parents, out of love for them and to see old friends for the last time.

He recalled urging his girlfriend never to leave him until he had given his side of the story, though he never revealed his full intentions to her.

Wells, now of Cwmbran, Gwent, denies three charges of rape, five of indecent assault, two of administering drugs and one of making an indecent photograph of a child.

The trial continues.