A former surgeon is set to stand trial in France for the alleged rape or sexual abuse of 299 victims. Most of them were children who were his patients.

A retired surgeon accused of raping and sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anesthetic, told the opening of his trial in western France on Monday that he had committed "despicable" acts.

A French former surgeon accused of abusing hundreds of patients, most of them children, has told a court that he admits to having "committed despicable acts" and "understands and shares the suffering" caused to his alleged victims.

A former surgeon accused of raping or sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anaesthetic, went on trial on Monday in France's largest ever child sexual abuse case.

The son of a retired French surgeon accused of raping and sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients told a court on Tuesday that Joel Le Scouarnec was a good father - but that the crimes he is accused of are unforgivable.

The numbers involved in France’s largest child abuse trial are staggering: 299 alleged victims, sexually abused in 10 hospitals and clinics over 25 years – all by one doctor, prosecutors say.