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A pharmacist who was convicted at Newcastle Court after forwarding indecent images of children that were sent to him over WhatsApp has been removed from the register by the General Pharmaceutical Council’s fitness to practise committee. 

Matloob Saliheen, who has expressed remorse for his actions but strongly denies having any sexual interest in children and who appealed against his conviction, was struck off following a videolink hearing that took place over March 26-27.

The pharmacist’s phone was seized by police in June 2020 when he was investigated for “a matter that was later discontinued”.

Three images of concern were found on his phone, two of which were videos. 

“They depicted male children who appeared to be aged between one and five,” said the FtP committee. 

The images had been sent to him over WhatsApp, and he forwarded them “to various contacts in his WhatsApp account”.

When he was interviewed under caution in 2021 he denied knowledge of the images and denied sending them onwards. 

He was convicted on three counts of distributing an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child at Newcastle Crown Court on August 16, 2024.  

He was placed on the sex offenders register for five years and barred from working with children or vulnerable adults, in addition to being sentenced to a 12-month community order with 40 hours’ unpaid work and 40 days of rehabilitation activity. 

The pharmacist was involved in an appeal against his conviction “until recently,” the FtP report notes.

Representing the GPhC, Glenn Mathieson argued: “Clearly, the practice of pharmacy is one for which regular interactions with children are inevitably to occur. 

“Practising while having been convicted of such offences would strike at the very heart of public confidence, as well as being incompatible with registration as a pharmacy professional.” 

The fact that the pharmacist contested the allegations at a criminal trial “means there is no evidence of insight,” Mr Mathieson added. 

Reading from a prepared statement, the pharmacist told the FtP committee he fully understood the seriousness of his conviction and expressed his remorse “for being in this position and for the damage this situation has caused to public confidence in the profession, to the reputation of pharmacy and to those who have trusted me as a healthcare professional.” 

He stated: “I also want to make clear, respectfully and honestly, that I have never had any sexual interest in children and I do not present myself as a risk to children or to the public.

“That has never been who I am as a person or as a pharmacist. 

“At the time, I wrongly failed to appreciate how the material in question would be regarded by the criminal court and by my regulator. 

“My own understanding and judgment at the time were wrong.

“Looking back, I very much wish I had understood this properly at the time. I deeply regret that I did not.”

He told the committee has lost everything as a result of his offences, and has not been working.  

Considering the case, the FtP committee said that “accepting and forwarding these images continues the abuse of that child,” and that behaviour of this nature is “very difficult to address”.

The committee said it does not have evidence of any remediation efforts on the pharmacist’s part beyond the actions that were required of him by the court, and that it “does not have any evidence of any development of insight over time” other than his submissions at the hearing. 

The FtP committee concluded that a suspension order would not be adequate to uphold the public interest, partly because the pharmacist would still be on the sex offenders register after the 12-month suspension lapsed.  

It said: “The committee has considered principles of proportionality and finds that in this case the only outcome that would protect the public, uphold proper standards of behaviour and maintain public confidence in the profession is removal from the register.”