Daniel Simnett, registration number 5015376, has been removed from the register after being convicted of attempting to “communicate with a female [he] believed to be aged 13 years for the purposes of sexual gratification”, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) revealed.
In a remote hearing on August 7-8, the fitness-to-practise (FtP) committee heard that he was convicted at Sheffield Crown Court last May and received an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months as well as a five-year “sexual harm prevention order” and 30-day “rehabilitation requirement order”.
Read more: Pharmacy technician convicted after ‘paedophile hunter’ sting struck off
According to the hearing documents, Simnett pleaded guilty to sending messages to the online profile of a “young female” who he believed to be a “13-year-old girl” called Amelia but who was actually “an undercover police operative”.
He was arrested in March 2023 but despite this, told the GPhC in an “annual declaration” the following January that he was not “under investigation by any regulatory body or criminal enforcement authority”.
Read more: Pharmacist removed for making indecent images of children
The regulator acknowledged that Simnett “had no previous regulatory findings against him” and that he “pleaded guilty at the first opportunity in his criminal proceedings”.
But it stressed that his conviction was “child-related” and that he had been “placed on the sexual offences register for ten years”, along with his other sentences.
“Acted dishonestly”
While working as a “lead pharmacy technician and dispensary manager” at Rotherham NHS Trust between January and March 2023, Simnett “attempted to engage in sexual communications with a child under the age of 16 without reasonable belief that they were 16 or over”, the document said.
He sent a “private message” to Amelia in January 2023, who told him she was a “13-year-old girl”, but he continued to send her messages that were “sexual in nature”, it added.
The committee heard that he “talked about Amelia getting into bed with him”, asked her for “a topless picture” and sent her pictures of himself “with his hands down his trousers”.
Read more: Pharmacist struck off over ‘extreme’ child pornography and bestiality images
He reportedly said that he “really should not be doing this with a…13-year-old” but then continued “to ask for pictures of the child”, documents said.
The “child profile ceased all contact” with Simnett in March 2023, however, and following a warrant being executed at his house, “he was arrested and interviewed the same day”, they added.
Read more: Pharmacy tech struck off for rape of ‘vulnerable’ 13-year-old girl
The GPhC did “not receive any notification” from him about his conviction and only became aware of the matter when a “referral was made by his employer” in July 2024, it said.
It found that Simnett had “acted dishonestly” in declaring “no” to a question of “whether he was under investigation by the police” in an annual declaration form “over nine months” after his arrest.
“It makes me feel sick”
The regulator acknowledged that he “accepted responsibility for his actions during his police interview” and “expressed remorse” for his actions.
It also noted some of the comments he made in his police interview, where he recognised that he “stupidly got into a conversation online [and] carried it on in a way [he] shouldn’t have done”.
Read more: Pharmacist suspended for stalking colleague with ‘tracking device’
“[It] now makes me feel sick with myself,” it heard that he told police, adding that he did “not have a sexual interest in children” and was “extremely sorry” for what he had done.
“[I don’t know] why I kept pestering, why I sent her so many messages…I’ve got no explanation and no defence for that,” he said.
“Seriously reprehensible”
But the council stressed “the seriousness of [Simnett’s] conviction” and argued that he “presents an actual risk to members of the public, in particular, young females”.
He has “brought the profession of pharmacy into disrepute” and has “breached one or more of the fundamental principles of his profession”, it said.
Read more: Pharmacist who groped colleague in Madame Tussauds FtP restored
The documents also highlighted that he “provided no insight or remediation in relation to his dishonest declaration”, adding that his actions were “seriously reprehensible”.
The GPhC determined that it would be “entirely inappropriate” for him to be “permitted to return to the register”.
“The committee did not consider that a suspension...would satisfy the need to adequately mark the seriousness of [Simnett’s] conviction and misconduct, and the egregious breaches of personal and professional standards that they represent,” it said.
Read more: Pharmacist struck off over forgery and fake opioid scripts
The council concluded that Simnett’s conviction was “fundamentally incompatible” with his continued registration as a pharmacy technician and said that “removal from the register was the only outcome that would adequately protect the wider public interest”.
Read the determination in full here.
