A BOLTON GP has been jailed for 18 years after he was found guilty of raping an 11-year-old girl.

Dr Stephen Hamilton was found guilty this afternoon at the end of a four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.

The jury of six men and six women found Hamilton guilty of three counts of child cruelty, six counts of rape and a further three counts of sexual assault, all of which the doctor, who worked at Heaton Medical Centre, had denied.

He had also been found guilty of another charge of child cruelty yesterday.

Earlier in the trial Hamilton, aged 45, of Gaskell Road, Altrincham, was found not guilty of administering a noxious substance to the girl on the direction of the judge.

Hamilton was accused of raping the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, more than 40 times.

During the trial the jury heard that Hamilton would strangle the girl until she passed out while abusing her, call her derogatory names and blame her for the abuse.

The court was told that Hamilton controlled the girl, threatening to prove she was mentally ill and making up stories if she ever told anyone about the abuse.

But the jury was told that in 2011 the girl felt she could not escape what had happened and wanted justice so came forward to tell police.

Hamilton claimed the girl imagined the abuse and made up her accusations.

Defence witnesses described the doctor, who has often been tearful during the trial, as a caring GP.