A pharmacist who continued to practise despite failing to pay his retention fee has failed in a bid to be restored to the register.

Damien Johnston, of Belfast, had committed a serious abuse, a Northern Ireland statutory committee hearing ruled.

He had flouted a registration process that assured the public that those acting as pharmacists were properly accredited, the committee chairman Tim Ferris said.

Mr Johnston worked as a pharmacist on seven occasions between September and December 2009, despite being removed from the register for non-payment of fees.

During the locum shifts he had dispensed, on one occasion, schedule 2 controlled drugs, the committee heard.

Mr Johnston deliberately misled his employer about his unregistered status, the hearing was told.

Authorities were alerted after a pharmacy annual return showed he had been employed as a locum.

Mr Johnston fully accepted he had acted in a way that constituted misconduct at the hearing.

He offered no defence other than that he had no money to pay the retention fee in June 2009. 

Mr Johnston was fully aware of the implications for him after his name was removed from the register, the committee was told.

The statutory committee acknowledged Mr Johnston’s full acceptance of the facts and his otherwise unblemished record.

Mr Ferris said his removal should not be forever and he could re-apply in six months. The verdict came as PSNI removed 18 pharmacists from the register this September for failing to pay fees.