A JUDGE has thrown out four charges against a consultant psychiatrist accused of a number of counts of rape and sexual assault.

On Thursday, Judge Patrick Hooton announced that he was dropping two charges of rape and two charges of indecent assault against Dr Christopher Allison, 60, formerly of Skippets Lane West, Basingstoke, and now of Hall Lane, Risby, Suffolk.

Allison now faces five offences of rape, one of attempted rape and 12 of indecent assault against a total of eight women, between 1982 and 1999.

Winchester Crown Court was told the alleged offences took place at clinics held by Allison in Kent, Oxford and Basingstoke, and that his alleged victims had been referred to him by their GPs for sexual and mental problems.

The charges that were dropped all related to a woman who claimed that Dr Allison (pictured) raped her after inviting her to lunch at a country pub in Kent for her birthday.

The case continues.