Herbalist not guilty of Wolverhampton sex assault

Alexander James Dhillon smiled with relief as the jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court unanimously cleared him of the charge. His friends in the public gallery clapped as the verdict was delivered yesterday.

The jury of six men and six women took just over three hours to reach their verdict at the end of the trial, which lasted almost three days. The 49-year-old of Park Avenue, Wolverhampton, was accused by the woman of touching her legs and buttocks when she went to see him about acne on her face.

Mr Dhillon told the court he had touched her but said it was part of a normal physical examination. He told the jury before he touched her, he always asked if he could and that the patient had allowed him to. He had said it was not sexual.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, visited Mr Dhillon on October 28 last year to see if he could help with the acne. Mr Dhillon, who was trained in Chinese medicine and nutrition, had told the court he looked for the 'root cause' of the problem, and this involved an examination.

He said he wanted to check for water retention and hormonal problems so undertook a 'skin fold test', which involved pinching the skin on her, stomach, arms, legs and buttocks.

He told the court: "She had loose skin on her inner thigh area. Unfortunately, I said she had the skin tone of an old woman, an old lady. I don't think my comments went down too well."

He told the court he also commented on some ingrowing hairs, and that she had seemed embarrassed.

Mr Dhillon said he had always made clear that he was a herbalist and never said he was a doctor.