Johnesia Francis, registration number 5101514, was handed a 10-week suspension by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) after failing to declare a police investigation and criminal proceedings against her when renewing her registration.
At hearings between June 15 and 16, the GPhC’s fitness to practise (FtP) committee heard that Francis also failed to declare a criminal conviction for common assault to the regulator within the seven days required.
According to the determination document, Francis had been charged with a criminal offence at the time of submitting her “return to registration” application, and “sought to conceal” the investigation, criminal proceedings and conviction from the GPhC.
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The committee found that the pharmacy technician had a “background of ill-health and personal family issues” that “contributed to” her actions, and noted that she had made “expressions of remorse”.
But it said that she had “ample opportunities” to provide the regulator with accurate information but “had chosen not to do so”.
“Deliberately not disclosed”
The GPhC said Francis signed her “return to registration” application on May 19, 2023, answering “no” to the question on whether she was currently or had ever been “under investigation by a regulatory body or criminal enforcement authority in the British Islands or elsewhere”.
At the time, the pharmacy technician had been subject of a police investigation that saw the police attend her home on July 1, 2022, before being taken into custody and interviewed under caution on September 22 that year.
She was charged with a criminal offence on May 8, 2023 and convicted of common assault at Snaresbrook Crown Court on August 2, 2023.
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The GPhC said that registrants must declare “anything that may affect their fitness to practise” within seven days, including a current investigation by a criminal enforcement authority or a conviction.
The regulator added that it had not been informed by Francis when police attended her home in July 2022, and only completed a fitness-to-practise declaration form about her conviction on June 23, 2024.
Francis admitted to these allegations but denied that she had been “dishonest” by not disclosing the investigation, prosecution and conviction.
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She told the committee she had “no recollection of events from April 2022 and for several months after” and only “recalled a little of being charged”.
She added that she “had not realised that she was under a criminal investigation” and “did not think that there was a criminal case to disclose” - and she “disagreed that she knew” the information she had not disclosed “related to a criminal investigation or offence or conviction”.
Francis said she had “not been thinking about registration” as she had “had a lot going on in her life”, and only knew after getting advice from her trade union that she had been convicted and “her employer needed to know”.
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The committee argued Francis “would have been aware” that the regulator needed “accurate declarations” as she had been on the register since May 2016.
“The omission therefore persisted through multiple stages of the criminal process and over a significant period of time,” it said.
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It added that it was “not persuaded that she was unaware that she was under investigation or facing proceedings or convicted and sentenced”, and found her explanation “not credible”.
And it said it was “not satisfied” that Francis had “so much going on in her private life that she would have been overwhelmed and unable to understand the importance of declaring the criminal case”.
Unique situation
The GPhC noted that Francis’ conviction “arose from a unique situation” in which she had been suffering from a health issue that is redacted in the document.
It said Francis was “highly unlikely” to repeat the behaviour that led to her conviction, and noted the “insight, reflection and medical treatment undertaken since her sentence was passed”.
And medical professionals, her probation officer and a pre-sentence report assessed the risk of Francis repeating her criminal conduct as “low”.
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The regulator acknowledged that Francis had no FtP concerns prior to or since this investigation, and noted “a positive testimonial from her employer”.
And it added that she had shown “some insight, albeit limited”, and had made some of her admissions “at an early stage with constructive participation and engagement in the regulatory process”.
“Continued failure”
But it stressed that her failure to disclose the criminal case against her was “a deliberate action”, and that her misconduct was directed towards the GPhC, which “required registrants to supply information with which it could carry out its statutory functions”.
It also highlighted that the duration of her misconduct lasted over a year, which it said “amounted to a continued failure and a sustained period where she had been dishonest and did not correct the statements made”.
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The committee said that “a finding of impairment is necessary to mark the seriousness of what has occurred” and “maintain public confidence and promote professional standards”.
It noted that Francis’ actions “were not fundamentally incompatible with continued registration” and issued a 10-week suspension with a review.
Read the determination in full here.
