A CONSULTANT gynaecologist accused of fraud has been cleared in court.

A jury found Julian Pampiglione not guilty of claiming double payments for fertility treatment of NHS patients.

Prosecutors decided to offer no evidence on a second charge and jurors were discharged from Bournemouth Crown Court.

The second charge alleged he had failed to disclose information that he had acquired shares for himself and his wife in Hampshire Fertility Limited.

Mr Pampiglione, 55, of Canford Cliffs Road, Poole always denied allegations that he had been paid regularly by Wessex Fertility Limited when he was already being paid for the work he was doing as part of his contract with the Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

And he said he was unaware investigations were being carried out until two years ago when police knocked on his door.

He told the court: “That was the first I knew there was any issue. I felt baffled – completely.”