A family doctor who allegedly stunned a patient by telling her that she might be possessed by an evil spirit, failed to appear at a medical tribunal hearing yesterday. Dr Joyce Pratt, 44, from Birmingham, allegedly told the young woman during a consultation that "something moving in her stomach" might be an evil spirit.

The General Medical Council hearing in Manchester was told that Dr Pratt gave the patient crosses and trinkets to ward off black magic and told her to visit a priest at Westminster Cathedral in London. The doctor faces a charge of serious professional misconduct.

The patient, Mrs K, attended the Westside Contraceptive Clinic in Westminster, London, for a contraceptive injection after complaining of pain and bleeding. But the panel was told that Dr Pratt claimed to have special powers and gave her stones and crosses to protect her. She allegedly told her that her mother was a witch and was planning to kill her. [...]

Dr Pratt then spoke to a clinic nurse who was present at the consultation. "She spoke to her about the fact that she was a visionary and that her special powers were recognised from an early age.

"The nurse was sufficiently alarmed that she contacted Mrs K to check she was all right and she notified her manager."