An osteopath has been suspended after admitting having an improper sexual relationship with a patient.

Mark Piper, co-founder and partner of Gilmour Piper Osteopaths, has worked as a consultant for Colchester United FC.

He had sex with a long-term patient at his office during a relationship which lasted a decade.

The hearing ruled Mr Piper had failed to act in the patient’s best interests because he failed to refer her to another osteopath after their sexual relationship began.

The General Osteopathic Council ruled Mr Piper’s conduct was a “serious breach” of accepted codes of practice.

Mr Piper is primarily based at Gilmour Piper’s offices in Ipswich, but the firm also runs a practice at the Constable Country Medical Practice, in East Bergholt.

On the firm’s website, he is described as a consultant for both Colchester United and Ipswich Town, who also works regularly with professional cricketers and golf players.

A Colchester United spokesman confirmed Mr Piper had last worked at the club in 2013. He said: “We have used him in the past, but not for a fair while.”

The panel suspended Mr Piper for four months, but decided against permanently revoking his registration.

The committee ruled he had shown a “determination to learn from what he had done” and had fully engaged with the hearing process.

Full story in today's Daily Gazette