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A pharmacist who was convicted last year for possessing indecent images of children on his phone has been struck off the register.

Patrick Colm Hassan pleaded guilty to making an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child and possessing an extreme pornographic image portraying assault by penetration at Exeter Magistrates Court in May 2024.

He was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, ordered to complete a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 200 hours unpaid work.

He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and put on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Using the messaging app Kik, Hassan uploaded five category A indecent videos and three category C indecent images of children in October 2020.

The videos featured penetrative sexual activity involving female children aged between five and 13. Devon and Cornwall Police obtained a warrant and arrested Hassan having traced the uploaded material to him.

On his Samsung Galaxy phone, they found;

-             24 accessible and 80 inaccessible category A videos/images.

-             17 accessible and 44 inaccessible category B videos/images.

-             28 accessible and 143 inaccessible category c videos/images.

-             43 accessible and 103 inaccessible extreme images.

The children depicted in the material were aged about six to 13. Hassan told police during an interview in October 2021 that he viewed the material for sexual gratification but expressed remorse for his actions.

The police referred the case to the General Pharmaceutical Council on October 19, 2021. Hassan, who apologised for his actions, also made a self-referral on October 20, 2021.

A GPhC fitness-to-practise committee found his conviction brought the pharmacy profession into disrepute and considered his offence “to be so serious that it is not remediable”.

The committee said: “(We have) found that there remains a risk that the registrant might repeat his conduct, if permitted to return to work unrestricted.

“For the reasons set out in this decision, the registrant’s unrestricted registration would place patients and the public at risk of harm and have an impact on public confidence and upholding standards.”