Sheikh Mohammad Nizam Mahmood, registration number 5102670, has been struck off the register by a General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) committee for the “rape of a girl aged 13” and supplying cannabis “to the child to facilitate the offence of rape”, leaving her with “severe psychological harm”.
During a remote hearing on November 21-22, the committee heard that Mahmood was handed a nine-year prison sentence for the sexual assault and a three-month concurrent sentence for the drug conviction, as well as restraining and sexual harm prevention orders, after being found guilty at Warwick Crown Court on August 18 2023.
Fitness-to-practise (FtP) documents said that the pharmacy technician was arrested “following a report by the mother of the 13-year-old” who claimed that he “had been messaging or conversing with her on Snapchat”.
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He arranged to meet her on February 10 2023 and travelled some 30 minutes “in his car to a carpark in Warwick and allegedly raped the complainant in the back of his vehicle”, they added.
The FtP committee heard of “the distressing consequences for the victim caused by what the registrant did to her”.
The ensuing “severe psychological harm” left her “unable to go to school for many months” and suffering from a sleep disorder, eating disorder and with self-harm, the documents said.
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The regulator conceded that there were “no previous regulatory findings against” Mahmood.
But it said that he showed “brazen disregard for the law” and “took advantage of a young and vulnerable person and supplied her with an illegal substance in furtherance of a crime”.
“The registrant’s conduct lacked…compassion or consideration for this young person” and showed no “empathy whatsoever for the 13-year-old child who was his victim”, it added.
Not “appropriate or fair”
“In his evidence at trial, the registrant denied rape and pleaded guilty to the supply of a controlled drug, cannabis,” the FtP documents revealed.
“The registrant alleged that any sexual activity was consented to and initiated by the victim,” they said.
Mahmood also claimed that “he did not think” a finding of impairment “[was] appropriate or fair” as “he was in custody [and] did not have sufficient support to defend himself”, according to the documents.
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“He also said that he maintained his innocence and is currently going through the appeal process” and that “he was previously of good character and had a good work ethic previous to the conviction”, they added.
“He explained that because he was in custody at the moment, he could not get witnesses and background facts about how he had worked and who he had worked for,” they said.
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The documents revealed that Mahmood “did not attend” on the second day of the hearing.
But they said that the committee “decided to resume the hearing” in his absence having heard from a prison officer that Mahmood was “disgruntled” – “he knew what would happen and he did not wish to attend”.
“Actual risk” to young females
The GPhC committee found that Mahmood “brought the profession of pharmacy into disrepute”, stressing that “behaving professionally is not limited to the working day”.
It said that he did not show “any sign of understanding of the damage that he caused and which for the victim is now continuing” and “presents an actual risk to members of the public, in particular, young females”.
It added that his conduct “has not been remedied or addressed; and this committee cannot say with any confidence that it is highly unlikely to be repeated”.
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The committee found that Mahmood’s lack of previous regulatory findings against him was a mitigating factor in its decision-making.
But it listed his criminal conviction, the fact that his victim “was a child” and that his crimes took “a significant degree of planning and preparation” as aggravating factors.
It stressed that finding no FtP impairment would “certainly be an unacceptable conclusion”, considering “the nature of the conduct in question, namely a conviction for a sexual assault as serious as rape of a child” and providing cannabis “to the victim before the assault took place”.
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The committee concluded that “only a removal order would adequately mark or capture the risk that the registrant presents to patients”.
His conduct was “fundamentally incompatible with continued registration as a professional”, it added.
The committee approved “an order of removal”, imposing an immediate interim measure of suspension “because it is necessary to protect the public who might otherwise place trust in the registrant as a professional person”.
Read the hearing in full here.
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health, you can contact Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677 or beateatingdisorders.org.uk
