Superintendent pharmacist struck off for repeated domestic violence
Fitness to practice Superintendent pharmacist Habib Khan, registration number 2054174, has been struck off the professional register for “serious and repeated” acts of violence towards his wife.
Superintendent pharmacist Habib Khan, registration number 2054174, has been struck off the professional register for "serious and repeated" acts of violence towards his wife.
Mr Khan, a partner at Accutree Limited, which operates four pharmacies, was convicted in 2011 for assaulting his wife in their home in Glasgow, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) heard at a fitness-to-practise hearing on June 27.
A year later, Mr Khan was convicted again for threatening his wife and causing damage to her house.
The GPhC ruled that criminal convictions for domestic violence are "wholly unacceptable for a pharmacist" |
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The GPhC acknowledged that there was no evidence that Mr Khan was not a good pharmacist, but ruled that domestic violence was "wholly unacceptable" for a pharmacist and "fundamentally incompatible with continued registration". |
In July 2010, Mr Khan kicked his wife while she was in bed at their home in Glasgow, before grabbing her hair and repeatedly punching her in the face, the committee heard.
In an interview with police, Mr Khan denied kicking or punching his wife, but admitted he might have slapped her. In court he pleaded not guilty before changing his plea and was ordered on May 2011 to pay £900 in fines and compensation.
In March 2012, Mr Khan went to his wife's home and "demanded entry", the committee heard. He banged on the door, shouted and swore, putting his wife "into a state of fear and distress".
On a second occasion in the same month, Mr Khan and a relation tricked their way into his wife's house and kicked a hole in the wall before leaving with his two children. Police later visited Mr Khan's home and took the children back.
Mr Khan pleaded guilty to these offences and was sentenced in June 2012 to 18 months supervision and 180 hours of unpaid work.
In December 2011, Mr Khan informed the GPhC that he had been involved in a "single incident of domestic assault" and that his marriage had since dissolved. At the committee hearing, Mr Khan admitted that he had downplayed the seriousness of his offence.
He acknowledged that his behaviour towards his wife had been "wholly inappropriate" and pointed out that the offences had occurred when his marriage was breaking up. He explained that he had since completed a domestic violence programme as part of his community service and was now able to "negotiate amicably" with his former wife.
The committee conceded that there had been no criticism of Mr Khan's clinical skills or any evidence of a continued risk to patients, but noted that the convictions had involved violence and were serious and repeated.
It was necessary to remove Mr Khan from the register to "send a signal to the profession and the general public that even in a person of previous good character, criminal convictions for domestic violence are wholly unacceptable for a pharmacist and will be visited with serious consequences", the fitness-to-practice committee said.
"Domestic violence is unfortunately all too common, in all walks of life. The committee considers that the public will be shocked by Mr Khan's behaviour and will expect it to be condemned by the profession in the strongest terms," said committee chairman Douglas Readings.
Read the full fitness-to-practise case here.
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