Bogus doctor who called himself 'the Big Bad Wolf' tricked women into letting him carry out intimate examinations and may have 'treated' up to 700 'patients'

A bogus GP who called himself the ‘Big Bad Wolf’ faces jail after he was found guilty yesterday of sexually assaulting four women. Antonio Gobbato, 51, used a cosmetic spatula to examine patients, and told one victim she was not pregnant after tweaking her nipples. Brazilian-born Gobbato convinced three parents their children needed expensive and urgent medical treatment abroad, conning the families into paying for ‘all expenses paid’ trips to Italy. He told one anxious father his daughter could contract leukaemia, and another mother: ‘You have to go to Italy next week, this boy is going to lose a kidney and it’s going to be your fault.’ Calling himself an ‘NHS doctor, gynaecologist, paediatrician and a psychiatrist’, he fooled victims with his white coat, framed certificates, a stethoscope and microscope he kept in his surgery. Yesterday a jury at Inner London Crown Court convicted him of five charges of sexual assault in respect of four patients, and three fraud charges. Judge Peter Grobel adjourned sentence but Gobbato, of Pinner, North London, is likely to face years behind bars. His first trial had collapsed in May last year after he had what was thought to be a minor stroke. More...Woman, 24, 'posed as teenage boy to trick girl, 15, into having sex with her... using prosthetic manhood and a back brace to cover her breasts' New immigration clampdown demands £20,000 salary for Brits to marry a foreigner But Judge Grobel later ruled he was fit to plead and stand trial, saying: ‘Medical experts for both the prosecution and the defence are in agreement that sadly the defendant is malingering.’ The court heard that Gobbato referred to himself as the ‘Big Bad Wolf’ in messages while arranging trips to Italy. One woman paid for him to accompany her family to Italy so he could treat her husband’s alcoholism. When the husband pulled out of the trip, Gobbato said her daughter should go instead for treatment of depression. He racked up a £726 bill for flights on her credit card, plus food, accommodation and car hire, jurors heard. But far from helping them in Italy, he made three visits to his dentist. The 51-year-old's 'consultation room' in south London, where the police fear he may have 'treated' up to 700 patients Linda Strudwick, prosecuting, said: ‘That this whole process was a charade to fleece money from [this woman] becomes very clear when one views the text sent by Mr Gobbato to someone who appears to be his secretary or wife, called Christina, in Italy.’ The text said: ‘Our hero did not want to travel. I am going with [the daughter] and her mother. I have to invent some treatment for them. X papao (Big Bad Wolf).’ Another woman, who flew from Brazil to give evidence, was studying at Westminster University in 2009 when she met Gobbato. She told the court that when she visited his office he had said she was depressed simple because she was wearing a black outfit on a sunny day. Gobbato then pricked her finger and looked at her blood under his microscope before asking to see her breasts. ‘I was wearing a bra but he pulled them out of it and started squeezing my nipples, very hard. It was very painful,’ she said. ‘Then he said, “Don’t worry, you are not pregnant”. I felt really awkward. I just wanted to get out of there, and that was when I realised he was not a doctor.’ Police believe Gobbato could have claimed hundreds of victims. Speaking after he was convicted, Detective Superintendent Andy Craig said: ‘We spoke to 160 women, but he said he treated up to 700.’ Source:Daily Mail