HYPNOTIST JAILED FOR SEX ABUSE

A hypnotherapist filmed himself sexually abusing a 19-year-old patient while she was in a trance-like state. Philip Sherwin (47) also had more than 40,000 indecent images of children on his computer. After admitting the offences, he was jailed for 18 months at Leicester Crown Court yesterday. Sentencing, Judge Simon Hammond said Sherwin had exploited a "vulnerable, fragile young woman". The judge said: "The defendant was acting in the capacity of a medical practitioner. He abused the trust of a woman who went to him for help. "He groomed her and created a situation where he could touch her and exploit her vulnerable state and filmed the abuse." Sherwin, of Balfour Street, off Woodgate, Leicester, had twice successfully hypnotised the victim to help with anxiety attacks, gaining her trust, before recruiting her as "a guinea-pig for research". He told her to take her trousers off so he could "remove the energy" from her legs and then touched her intimately. He filmed the incident and also took photos.

Other great stories
UNUSUAL ANIMAL FRIENDSHIP

SAT ON top of a Brazilian turtle’s head, this little ladybird looks content as he studies his environment from a new height .

INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF AFRICAN TRIBES

A German photographer travelled around Africa where he met and photographed members of tribes in a series of intimate portraits .

JOLY THE WOLLY FALLS FOR PARKING PRANK

PRANKSTER Dom Joly was so livid when he was slapped with a parking ticket that he took to Twitter to vent his anger – only to discover he was the victim of his own gag! The comic got a taste of his own medicine when he was tricked by a fellow joker for the first time in a decade .

RIVET-ING ALL WOOD TOWER

WELCOME to what could be the world's tallest TOTALLY wooden construction .

SNEAKY OTTER

A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .

BLIND MAN BEATEN WITH BRICK FOR SAYING HELLO

A BLIND man was battered with a brick in a sickening attack by two thugs .

LIVING ON WATER: REFUGEES BUILD A LIFE AT SEA

SAILING over crystal clear waters, the Bajau people of Malaysia live their lives almost entirely at SEA .

HOPE FOR HOMELESS HEDGEHOG

SNUGGLED up in the hay away from the elements, this adorable hoglet has sought solace with a familiar friend .

KITTEN IN WHEEL

A panic stricken kitten that got her head stuck in a car tyre has been freed by quick thinking RSPCA staff .

SHARK SELFIES

NOT YOUR everyday selfie, this plucky diver poses with some of the scariest predators in the ocean .

FACES OF ORPHAN VICTIMS OF AGENT ORANGE

These are the faces of orphans suffering from the horrifying effects of chemical warfare .

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE BUG KIND

THIS alien-like bug would look more at home in outer-space but it can actually be found wriggling around here on Earth .