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A pharmacist who sent a series of sexualised WhatsApp messages to a member of staff whose course he was supervising has been suspended for six months by the General Pharmaceutical Council.

The GPhC’s fitness to practise committee found that Lee Andrew Broadbent had engaged in unwanted “banter” with the trainee pharmacy advisor, to whom he had been assigned as tutor, and that he persisted in sending inappropriate messages after she asked him to stop on multiple occasions.

The messages were sent between December 14, 2024 and January 4, 2025, when both were working at a Boots branch on Station Road in Hadfield. 

The messages included commenting about the trainee’s body and physical appearance in graphic terms and intrusive questions about her relationship with her partner, as well as asking her to send pictures of what she was wearing to the gym. 

Having previously only texted the trainee about work matters, his behaviour escalated following a work Christmas party on December 14, 2024. That night, he praised her handling of a drunk colleague at the party and went on to comment about her breasts before deleting the message, which became a pattern with subsequent messages.

The FtP committee found that on one occasion he texted the trainee in the evening and implied he was “touching himself” – an allegation Mr Broadbent denied but which was upheld by the committee on the balance of probabilities.

On another occasion, he touched her bottom without her consent after they shared a joke in the tea room, after which he apologised. The trainee described it as a sexual touch that she would not expect from someone other than her partner. She returned to complete her shift but after 20 minutes suffered from a panic attack. 

Mr Broadbent, who admitted to most of the allegations against him, denied that the “tap” had been sexually motivated, but the FtP committee determined it likely had been.

In her oral evidence, the trainee said she had initially enjoyed a good working relationship with Mr Broadbent but that his inappropriate messages made her feel unsafe at work, adding that following the tea room incident she tried to keep contact with him to an absolute minimum

She said she was afraid if she raised the issue he might fail her, explaining that he was in a position of power over her and she did not now what to do. She felt he had abused his position of trust and worried he might repeat this conduct with other female staff members in the future. 

Giving evidence to the committee, Mr Broadbent admitted the messages were unwanted and sexualised in nature, and had violated his colleague’s dignity in a context where there was a power imbalance between them.

Mr Broadbent said he had previously acted as tutor for eight to 10 people and has “worked predominantly with female colleagues”. 

He said difficulties in his personal life affected his perception of Colleague A and “influenced both his thought processes and behaviours,” the FtP reported.

He offered his sincere apologies to his former colleague, saying he now recognises his behaviour was unprofessional and wholly unacceptable and that he was “devastated” to learn of the impact his behaviour had on her.

Mr Broadbent, who was let go from Boots when his misconduct came to light, said he was worked as a locum pharmacist without incident since February 2025 and that he has completed CPD on professional boundaries and sexual harassment.

The FtP committee noted his efforts to remediate his misconduct, but found he had failed to explain in sufficient detail how he would prevent any future repetition of the behaviour.

It imposed a six-month suspension order, in addition to an interim suspension during the 28-day appeal period, and advised him to provide an explanation at his review hearing of how we would prevent any repetition of his misconduct.

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