A family doctor groped a woman's breasts instead of listening to her breathing when she was suffering from a chest infection, a court heard.

Rodney Tate, 66, is accused of sexually assaulting 14 women over 25 years at the Old Steine Surgery, Brighton.

William Coker, QC, defending Tate at Lewes Crown Court, said the defendant would surely have used a stethoscope to check the breathing of a student suffering from a severe cough.

However, the witness had no recollection of the procedure.

Tate, who denies 17 counts of indecent assault, was suspended in August 2004 from the practice where he had worked since 1968.

The witness said that when visiting the doctor in 1990, sick from a chest infection, Tate immediately told her to remove her clothes before "groping" her naked breasts. She said: "I felt shocked, repulsed and angry."

Another witness said she had unnecessarily had her breasts felt when complaining of a rash on her legs.

She said: "If I had marks on my legs it should have been my legs that were looked at, not my top half."

The trial, expected to last two more weeks, continues.