Former Boots pharmacist manager, Ketankumar Shah, registration number 2036445, has been struck off the professional register for stealing £550 from his branch's till.

Mr Shah committed "repeated, opportunistic theft" in stealing money from Boots on 13 occasions over three months, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) found at a fitness-to-practise hearing on November 5, 2012.

Mr Shah, who was manager at the Eastcote branch in Middlesex for 10 years, deliberately made false entries into the till and pretended he had given customers a refund. He also attempted to short-change a customer twice, the panel heard.

Ketankumar Shah's (registration number 2036445) behaviour was "deliberate, repeated and premeditated", the GPhC fitness-to-practise committee concluded	More fitness-to-practise cases Pharmacist struck off for 'systematic' theft Pharmacist suspended for armed fracas Pharmacist suspended for making 'vindictive' calls
	"The picture which appears is one of repeated, opportunist theft," the panel concluded. Mr Shah stood trial on charges of theft and false accounting but was acquitted by a jury in 2007. The GPhC panel heard, however, that allegations were proven under the civil standard of proof – the balance of probabilities.

Head office was called in to investigate Mr Shah in November 2005 following complaints from a customer and staff, the panel heard.

Mr Shah resigned the next day, citing stress, an injury at work and "increasing staff resentment". However the committee concluded that Mr Shah left his employment because he was stealing from his employers and his misconduct was about to be revealed.

Mr Shah made false entries into the till on 13 occasions between September and November 2005, pretending to show he had issued refunds amounting to £550, the committee heard.

The committee also heard from a witness who described how, on two occasions in 2004, Mr Shah had accepted a £20 note but had attempted to provide change for £10, although gave the correct change when it was queried.

The panel rejected claims that other members of staff could have used Mr Shah's PIN to access the pharmacy till without his knowledge.

And despite working as a pharmacist since he left Boots and committing no other offences or misconduct since, there was "no evidence that Mr Shah had developed any insight into his misconduct", the committee said.

"The committee has found that Mr Shah was dishonest. Over the period of three months in 2005 which was investigated he was regularly seizing any opportunity to steal from his employers," the committee said.

Mr Shah's behaviour was "deliberate, repeated and premeditated", the committee added, and it could not be confident he would not "succumb to temptation" once the proceedings were over.

Read the full GPhC fitness-to-practise case here