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A pharmacy technician has been suspended by the General Pharmaceutical Council for four months after its fitness-to-practise committee found he made “inappropriate” physical contact with a 17-year-old female staff member.

The committee heard that on March 12, 2021, Imraan Khan, a pharmacy technician at S&S Dispensing Chemist in Bolton and director of Wellbrook Ventures Limited which owns the pharmacy, drove the employee from the branch to a car park where the alleged physical contact took place.

Khan was said to have held her hand, kissed her hand whilst holding it, stroked her hair, hugged her, kissed her head “from her forehead down to her cheek” and attempted to wipe her tears off her cheeks.

She began to cry because he would not stop asking if there was something wrong

Khan had asked a colleague to tell the staff member he was outside the pharmacy and wanted to speak to her, at which point, she got into his car and, according to her testimony, he repeatedly asked her “if there was something wrong for five minutes”.

Although she told him she was fine, he continued to ask her if something was wrong and the committee heard “she began to cry because he would not stop asking the question”.

At that point, Khan said to her “we are going for a drive” and continued to ask her the question. “I was still crying as we were driving,” she told the committee. “I was still crying and he kept talking about personal life.”

She said as she lifted her hand to wipe the tears from her face, Khan “used one hand, which I believe was his right hand to grab hold of my hand.” She added: “He pulled my hand towards him and put both his hands around mine. He then kissed my hands quite a few times”.

She said he then let go of her hands and started stroking her hair before leaning over and hugging her. She told the committee: “The hug did not last long and he began to kiss my head, starting with the top of my head and kissing downwards and onto my right cheek.”

She said as Khan tried to wipe her tears away, her “legs were frozen” and she did not have her mobile phone with her. The committee heard the “whole incident lasted 25 to 30 minutes”.

She said Khan then drove them to a petrol station and returned with “chocolate and sweets” which he gave to her.

She told her colleagues at the pharmacy what happened but did not feel comfortable telling her “boss”, although the committee heard she eventually told “the safeguarding person within work what had occurred” as well as her manager.

Conduct was not sexual in nature or sexually motivated

Four days after the alleged incident, she decided to go to the police after speaking to her sister. The police investigated the allegations and the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue a prosecution against Khan.

The FtP committee concluded Khan breached three standards. First, it found he failed to communicate effectively having touched her inappropriately and without her consent.

Secondly, “his conduct in the car” meant he did not behave in a professional manner. Thirdly, Khan failed to demonstrate leadership having “abused his seniority” which was “a particularly serious failing given this was in relation to a teenage female employee”.

However, the committee did not find Khan’s conduct was sexual in nature or sexually motivated. “The committee was of the view that there was no evidence before it to suggest (Khan) had a premeditated plan to take (the staff member) away in his car with the intention of sexually assaulting her.”