A MARRIED GP who spent six months in prison convicted of groping a teenage girl has been cleared after a jury was told it had been “a terrible misunderstanding.”

Dr Unt Tun Maung, 45, a devout Buddhist consistently denied assaulting the 19-year-old girl at a Cleveland medical practice four years ago.

He was accused of groping her breasts after twanging her bra and telling her to take it off when she complained of flu.

Dr Maung insisted it had been an innocent misunderstanding in a thorough examination after the girl reported a chest infection. He denied he ever asked the girl to take her bra off – or that it was ever removed. His family and friends campaigned for his innocence and won a re-trial.

The father of one- of Alpine Court, Chester-le Street, County Durham, spent six months in prison after being convicted at Durham Crown Court and jailed for 18 months in April 2015. He launched an appeal after it emerged the woman had sat in the public gallery during the trial, but was then recalled to give evidence. The High Court quashed his conviction and ordered a re-trial.

A jury of six women and six men took two hours after a five-day trial at Hull Crown Court to find him not guilty of sexual assault in July 2012.

Dr Maung, who had worked in Sunderland, Teesside and Hartlepool hospitals, wept in the dock at the verdict walking free in to the arms of his wife.

Speaking outside court he said: “I feel very relieved now. I want it to be publicly known, because since my conviction was quashed, I have not been legally allowed to say anything by the court.”

He said he was prevented from commenting further as he still had to make hearing before the General Medical Council and he wanted to return to work.

A fellow GP at court said “Dr Maung deserves to have been able to prove his innocence because he was wrongly convicted in the first trial.

"Doctors, not just in this country, but from abroad have supported him and we want to thank them for that".

Judge Jeremy Richardson, QC, granted Dr Maung his legal costs.

The woman told the jury she had gone to the walk-in clinic with-flu like symptoms, taking off her coat and scarf.

She said after he examined her ears and throat he asked her to bend forwards and placed a stethoscope under her blouse, but on top of her vest to listen to her back and chest.

She said after being asked to sit on an examination table and was told to remove her blouse, then was asked to remove her bra and alleged the doctor had cupped each breast.

She added: “There was no eye contact. It was awkward.” She said after leaving with a prescription for Codine, she texted a friend saying: “I feel like I have just been groped by a doctor. That’s all you need.”

Despite making an immediate complaint, the NHS was criticised for a “shocking delay” in not reporting it to the police for 12 months.

Dr Maung told the jury the girl had not taken the bra off and he did not cup her breasts, but instead he performed a proper medical examination listening for echoes in the chest restricted by fluid. Defence barrister Felicity Gerry, QC, said: “There was no cupping or groping of either of the breasts. I suggest it was a proper medical examination and this has all been a terrible misunderstanding. “

The court heard Dr Maung came to the UK in the late 1990s, qualifying as a GP and working in practices and hospitals across the north east as a locum.

His late father was a professor of surgery in Burma and his mother was also a doctor. Character references said he is a “loyal, dedicated, and kind” person who was brought up with a strong ethical code. He meditates five times a day and is a leading figure in the Sunderland Buddhist centre.

Despite being released from prison, Dr Maung has been suspended from general practice since October 2013 and now faces a General Medical Council to determine if he can practice again.