A pharmacist has been struck off the register for three "violent" assaults, one of which left his half-sister with a wound that needed 70 stitches.

Kashif Ali, registration number 2047423, received two separate sentences of 21 and 12 months in prison for wounding his half-sister, harassing his ex-wife and assaulting his ex-wife's partner, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) heard at a fitness-to-practise hearing that began on September 23.

The GPhC accepted that Mr Ali had made efforts to manage his anger and had volunteered to temporarily remove himself from the register in 2012, when he recognised he was unfit to work. But it said he lacked insight into his actions and had continually sought to minimise his responsibility.

Mr Ali grew up in Oldham, Manchester, where he assumed the role of "head of the family" in 1997 due to his stepfather's death. He registered as a pharmacist in the same year and one year later became embroiled in a family argument, when he started "waving around his hand" while holding a glass. The glass came out of his hand and hit the face of his half-sister – who was only 12 or 13 years old at the time – leaving her with a wound that required 70 stitches and subsequent scarring.

Although Mr Ali offered to pay for plastic surgery, he went on to taunt his half-sister about the injury and called her "scar face", the GPhC heard.

In 2011, Mr Ali got involved in another family argument, during which he ended up hitting his half-sister's arms and hands, which she was using to protect her head. Following the incident, Mr Ali's half-sister ran away from the family home and reported the assaults to the police.

At this point, Mr Ali had already separated from his wife. But things became "particularly acrimonious" between the pair in 2012 when Mr Ali started constantly ringing the doorbell of his ex-wife and phoning her, which prompted an informal police warning. Mr Ali went on to send her "highly critical" texts and also employed a private detective to ascertain whether she was having a relationship with someone else, sending reports of her movements to her parents.

In April 2013, the police issued Mr Ali with a formal warning to stop harassing his ex-wife. But later that month, he saw her new partner's van arriving at the family home. Mr Ali pulled up and punched his ex-wife's partner repeatedly, also slamming his hand in the van door in front of his three-year-old grandson. One of Mr Ali's brothers arrived during the fighting and Mr Ali told him: "Let's kill the white bastard now."

Mr Ali faced two separate criminal proceedings later that year. In July, he was convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm to his half-sister and sentenced to 21 months in prison. The judge also imposed an indefinite restraining order on Mr Ali, who he said failed to show "any remorse" when his half-sister read her victim statement.

In September, Mr Ali was convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm, racially aggravated harassment and harassment for the incident involving his ex-wife and her partner, which led to a 12-month prison sentence and another indefinite restraining order.

The GPhC accepted that Mr Ali had since seen a counsellor to help him manage his anger, who gave him a positive report. Mr Ali's probation officer also felt there was a "limited" risk of repetition and supported his return to practice. The regulator took into account that Mr Ali had enough awareness to voluntarily remove himself from the register in 2012, before which he held an unblemished record, and accepted he had produced "a large number" of positive testimonials from the local community.

But the GPhC expressed concerns that Mr Ali failed to display "genuine regret" for assaulting his half-sister. It also questioned his argument that the later incidents involving his ex-wife were caused by being under pressure. "Many professionals encounter highly stressful periods in their lives but do not resort to violence or harassment," the fitness-to-practise committee said.

The GPhC ruled that its only option was to remove Mr Ali from the register.

Read the GPhC's full determination here.

	What do you make of the GPhC's ruling?