The hospital which employed sex attack doctor Rashid Sandhu said it carried out full checks on the Pakistan national before employing him.Sandhu worked at the James Paget University Hospital (JPH) in two spells from August 2003 to April 2005 as a senior house officer and from May 2006 to last June as a specialist registrar in the accident and emergency ward.

The hospital which employed sex attack doctor Rashid Sandhu said it carried out full checks on the Pakistan national before employing him.

Sandhu worked at the James Paget University Hospital (JPH) in two spells from August 2003 to April 2005 as a senior house officer and from May 2006 to last June as a specialist registrar in the accident and emergency ward.

As well as being convicted for sexually assaulting his 13-year-old victim, he had stored 179 pornographic images of children on his home computer at Hopton.

The 30-year-old's attack and his sick pictures came to light after the girl told schoolfriends what had happened.

The JPH said it carried out vigorous checks on all clinical staff before employing them, including qualifications, past job history, police records and visa status for immigrants.

Adrian Pennington, chief executive of the JPH, said: “I can confirm all these checks were completed in this instance and they did not highlight anything of concern.

“Our trust has robust child protection and audit procedures in place that reflect national policy. Patient safety is paramount.”

The court heard Sandhu's obsession with child pornography led him to assault the girl.

Opening the case last Tuesday, prosecutor Matthew McNiff said: “He saw the opportunity to pursue this obsession to another level. He choose to act on this dark, deep urge.”

A police spokesman said: “Our inquiries have not revealed any previous concerns about Sandhu prior to this incident.”