A sports therapist has been jailed for touching the breasts of three patients while giving them massages for back pain.

Clifford Pill told the women he was showing them how to check for lumps on the chests as he slipped his hands inside their underwear during physiotherapy sessions.

The former dockyard worker retrained as a sports masseur and set up business at his home in Falmouth, Cornwall under the title Working Body.

He was jailed after a judge told him he was guilty of a gross breach of trust and had left the three victims with problems of confidence and relationships through his assaults.

Two of the women were students in their 20s and the third was married woman in her 30s. They had all gone for treatment for sports injuries in 2011 or 2012.

Pill, aged 67, is a father and grandfather who was supported by his family and former patients, 50 of whom wrote letters of reference praising his work.

He had been a pillar of the community in Newquay, where he had worked with youth clubs as a Judo instructor and fitness trainer for 40 years, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Pill, of Oakland Park, Falmouth, denied three offences of sexual assault but was found guilty by a jury at Truro Crown Court in July. He was jailed for 18 months by Judge Cottle, sitting at Exeter.

The judge told him: “All these women went to you for treatment at a time when you had a business as a sports therapist, and had done so for some years.

“They placed their trust in you to treat their complaints but in each case you behaved in an identical, wholly inappropriate and sexual way while they were on your treatment table.

“You took up position by their heads and moved your hand down their chests under their bras onto their breasts and nipples and massaged them in a way which had no place whatsoever in the treatment process.

“This was serious offending and the impact on them has been significant in that they find it difficult to trust people and have experienced difficulties in their relationships.

“Your decision to plead not guilty meant they were required to re-live the experience and did so to their very obvious distress and embarrassment during the trial.

“I have read many testimonials and it is clear you are much respected in the community. However, this was a serious breach of trust and the sentence must be immediate.”

Miss Fern Russell, defending, said Pill’s family are reliant on his support and would suffer if he went straight to jail.

She submitted a sheaf of references and called patient Julie Peters, from Mullion, who said Pill’s treatment had cured chronic pain and “has given me my life back.”

Miss Russell said: “My client can be said to have been of exemplary character and his fall from grace has ruined his life and radiated out to those closest to him. He accepts he bears responsibility for that.

Pill’s case formed part of a review of professional standard carried out by the Society of Sports Therapists, which has introduced tighter controls as a result. Pill’s business in Falmouth is now run by one of his daughters.