Quebec doctor convicted of assault, counselling an offence

A doctor in Quebec has been found guilty of two counts of assault and one count of counselling a person to commit an offence that was not committed.

Quebec Court Judge Frédéric Bénard found that Sanjeev Sirpal asked his then-girlfriend to create a false diary entry suggesting that she’d witnessed one of his patients wearing a Nazi symbol and making a racist remark in a Montreal-area waiting room.

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Bénard told a courtroom in Laval, Que., that Sirpal had urged the woman to fabricate the story to discredit the patient, who had made a complaint against him to the province’s doctor’s college.

The judge also concluded that Sirpal assaulted his ex-girlfriend in August and December 2020, but acquitted him of dangerous driving and of attempting to obstruct the course of justice.

Bénard said Sirpal and the complainant presented opposing versions of the events, but he found the woman’s version to be credible.

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The case returns to court for a sentencing hearing on Oct. 15.