A police doctor drugged, raped and indecently assaulted three young girls in a Southampton flat while filming the attacks as his victims lay helpless, a court heard.

Forensic medical examiner Dr Robert Wells (52) was able to assault the youngsters, aged five to 11, after he befriended their parents, Winchester Crown Court heard. He then drugged them before either raping them or assaulting them while a camera recorded his actions.

Wells worked as a police surgeon in the Southampton and Winchester areas and also had a private practice in Brighton, it was said.

Most of the attacks are alleged to have taken place in a flat he owned in St Denys. Stephen Parish, prosecuting, said: "The allegations we make against Dr Wells are about as serious as could be made against a doctor.

"The Crown says that on separate occasions he abused three young girls in his charge. One he raped on many occasions, the other two he sexually abused on one occasion.

"But the offences are made worse by the fact Dr Wells drugged his victims before assaulting them to facilitate his abuse and make it difficult to remember what went on. A further feature is that he videoed himself doing it. This man, who appears to be a good and caring doctor, is a rapist and a serial paedophile."

"Dr Wells befriended the parents and the children and gave the appearance of a kind and generous uncle. But appearances were deceptive. He was, to coin a phrase, a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde."

Mr Parish added that Wells indecently assaulted two young sisters aged five and 11 after their mother agreed to let them stay at his flat in Priory Avenue, Southampton, on February 25th last year.

Wells had first told the mother his own daughter was staying and then that his girlfriend would also be there. But after a trip to Marwell Zoo, the mother left the girls alone with Wells, who said the others could not make it.

When Wells dropped them off the next day, the mother noticed the older girl was "spaced out".

The youngsters were taken to hospital and tests found that both girls had drugs in their systems which would have knocked them out and caused them to suffer amnesia, the court was told.

Wells was arrested and charged and officers raided his homes. At the Southampton address, they found a piece of paper which, the prosecution allege, was a timetable for the drugging and abuse of the sisters.

On a seized computer, they found a file had been created and deleted in the early hours of February 26th and deleted files with the name of the 11-year-old on them were also found.

Detectives then spoke to another 11-year-old daughter of a family friend from Brighton and she alleged that Wells had attacked her repeatedly during most of 2002 and early 2003 when he was alone with her, Mr Parish said. An examination found that she had been raped and the same drug was found in a sample of her hair.

In the raid on the Southampton house, police also found a contraption of covered polystyrene on a wooden board with red straps which the girl said was called "Satan's Pillow". She said Wells had raped her on it several times, Mr Parish said.

Wells, of Hangleton Road, Hove, denies three counts of rape, five counts of indecent assault, two of administering drugs and one of making an indecent photograph of a child.

The trial is expected to last four weeks.

Proceeding