A heart specialist accused of fondling three women hugged his wife after a jury acquitted him on all charges on Tuesday.

Dr Sumit Basu, who formerly worked at Heatherwood Hospital, was said to have groped the three women's breasts and given two unnecessary and intrusive examinations.

The consultant cardiologist allegedly told a second-year medical student, now 22, to drop her knickers so he could examine her from behind at the Lewisham Hospital.

It was only when the heart specialist was charged and news of his arrest emerged that the two other alleged victims, now aged 29 and 32, came forward.

Basu's alleged sex attacks against the teenager and the two other women were said to have happened between 2006 and 2014.

It was claimed he abused his position of trust and exploited the naivety of the patients who had put their trust in him.

Hanna Llewllyn-Waters, prosecuting, claimed the alleged victims found his examinations 'odd, uncomfortable and upsetting' after being referred to him.

'They had not complained at the time because they trusted the doctor, and had been assured by him that he was acting in accordance with their care,' she said.

But a jury of six men and six women at Woolwich Crown Court took six hours and 40 minutes to clear Dr Basu of all the charges.

He stood in the dock quietly with his hands around his waist as the jury foreman delivered their verdicts and his wife trembled in the public gallery.

Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams, QC, thanked the jurors and said: 'The defendants may be discharged.'

Giving evidence Basu said it was absolutely necessary to close a curtain when examining patients 'even if you are just talking' and that his process with treating female patients has changed.

Basu added: 'I was taught to expose the part that you are going to examine completely.

'That is my training and that has been modified, I am no longer standing in front of an examiner.'

He said he now tells female patients to keep their bras on.

The court heard that he comes from distinct medical background as his father and sister are both doctors while his mother works as a nurse.

His grandfather also practised medicine, he said.

Basu told jurors he wanted to be a doctor for as long as he could remember and would listen to peoples' chests with a toy stethoscope as a child.

He has a 17-year-old son and told the court he married while he was a young junior doctor in 1988 and will celebrate his pearl wedding anniversary next year.

Dr Basu underwent medical training in Kolkata, India but came to Britain in 1986 to finish his training with a few of staying for up to five years before returning home.

His father and sister are also doctors and his mother is a nurse.

Before he began working at the Lewisham Hospital in February 2004 he worked at the Royal Brompton Hospital in Uxbridge.

Dr Basu also worked four days a week at the Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot, Berkshire.

Basu, of Ringmore Rise, Lewisham, southeast London, denied but was cleared of seven counts of sexual assault and three of assault by penetration.