GYNAECOLOGIST Professor Kyprianos Nicolaides yesterday denied that he had lied to the General Medical Council's disciplinary committee enquiring into allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

At a new hearing of the GMC's professional conduct committee, the 49-year-old, of South London, said that he had misunderstood questions put to him during a 1998 professional misconduct hearing.

It was alleged Prof Nicolaides had made insulting and sexual remarks to Jennifer Sabin of Morpeth, Northumberland during an operation in 1996.

At the end of that hearing, the professor was found not guilty of misconduct. During the hearing, he was questioned over whether he had ever faced allegations about his sexual conduct, which he denied.

Yesterday, the professor claimed he thought that the questions referred to his relations with patients.

He was actually being questioned about his relations with his personal assistant Ms Shelley Ormerod, 26, who did in fact accuse him of sexual harassment.

Under questioning from his counsel Robert Francis, the professor said he had never intended to mislead the committee. The committee was earlier told that the original shorthand notes of the hearing had been lost.

Opening the case against the professor, Rosemary Foster dismissed the professor's defence that he had misunderstood the questions about allegations of sexual harassment.

The hearing continues