Pharmacist Patrick Colm Hassan, registration number 2091443, was this month (February 11) removed from the register after being convicted of possession of an extreme pornographic image and making “indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child”, according to General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) hearing documents.
The pharmacy regulator said that on October 21, 2020, the National Crime Agency (NAC) notified police that a user on the messaging app Kik had uploaded five indecent videos and three indecent images of children.
“This upload was traced back to the username, email address and home address of the registrant,” it added.
It said that almost a year later (October 19, 2021} Hassan was arrested, interviewed and “the police obtained a warrant and attended [his] home”, where they seized his Samsung Galaxy telephone.
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On the device, police found a total of 482 photos and videos – “the age range of the children depicted in the material deemed to be indecent appeared to be approximately 6 to 13 years of age”, the GPhC added.
“During an interview on October 19, 2021, the registrant accepted his offending in full. He stated that he viewed the material for sexual gratification as it was a taboo…he expressed remorse for his actions,” it added.
In May 2024, Hassan pleaded guilty to three offences of “making indecent photographs/pseudo-photographs of a child…and an offence of possessing an extreme pornographic image”, it said.
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In August, he was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 40 days rehabilitation activity and 200 hours unpaid work, the GPhC said.
He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and required to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years, it added.
The regulator admitted “that the registrant has shown some insight”.
But it found that “this case is so serious…that it is not remediable”.
“My actions were deplorable”
While Hassan was not present at the hearing, he did provide a statement saying that he did “not wish to take up any more of [the GPhC’s] time than necessary and the severity of my actions leaves the committee only one recourse, my removal from the GPhC register”.
“I began using internet chat rooms in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic – at this time, I was working as a community pharmacist and part-time as a clinical pharmacist for a GP practice,” he said.
“Both roles became more stressful with restrictions changing often, less availability of medication and still providing the level of service people expect [and] the lack of availability of locum pharmacists and fulfilling both roles led to me working long and unusual hours,” he added.
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“My wife was also having to work long hours so we were not able to see much of each other, especially when we had to isolate from each other after potential contact with the virus,” he said.
“This isolation led to me spending more time online which became unhealthy,” he added.
“Initially, my use of this app was not illegal and that was not the intent with which I started using it but over time I became desensitised to what I was viewing and progressed to more extreme images,” he said.
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“When my account was banned in October 2020, it was a wake-up call and I stopped accessing this material – a year later I was arrested in October 2021. I cooperated with the police from the beginning, making full admissions,” he added.
“While I hope this gives some context to what happened, I recognise that my actions were deplorable and there is no excuse or explanation that can diminish their severity,” he said.
“I did my best for patients”
Hassan’s statement said that after his arrest he received “specialist counselling to people being investigated for indecent image offence” and has worked “in fast food, developed properties, completed a course in software development and worked as an internet assessor”.
“This role helps flag misleading and inappropriate website content so that it does not appear in search results,” he added.
“My actions made the internet a less safe place and doing this work is part of how I am trying to atone,” he said.
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“I was privileged to work as a pharmacist for the time that I did. I worked hard and did my best for patients,” he added.
“My proudest moment was when a mother brought her child in for me to assess their verrucas,” he said.
“The infection was unusually widespread for a minor self-limiting condition so I used my relationship with the GP surgery to have the duty doctor see him immediately,” he added.
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“A couple of years later, the mother was in the pharmacy and thanked me for what I had done as her son was diagnosed with leukaemia and started treatment much sooner than would otherwise have been the case,” he added.
“My actions have brought the profession into disrepute, and I regret them immensely. I would give anything to undo them but I cannot,” he said.
“I apologise to the victims depicted in these images for my role in perpetuating their existence by downloading them,” he added.
Decision on Impairment
The GPhC committee said that while the Hassan had “shown some insight”, it did not consider him to have “full insight given that he was recorded by the probation service as having said he should not go to prison”.
“This would suggest that the registrant does not appreciate the gravity of his offences and therefore has not demonstrated full insight,” the committee added.
“The committee does not have before it any evidence of clear, mitigating factors that cause it to decide that removal is not appropriate,” it said.
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It added that “[Hassan] presents a potential risk to the public” and that his rehabilitation requirements and prevention order are “subject are also indicative that he poses a risk of reoffending”.
It said that GPhC guidance “indicates that a conviction for a serious sexual offence, an incident involving a child…are incompatible with continued registration given the risk to patients and the impact on public confidence in the profession”.
It found that “removal from the register is the only appropriate sanction” with an immediate suspension order.
Read the full hearing here.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact Pharmacist Support by emailing info@pharmacistsupport.org or calling 0808 168 2233/0808 168 5133 for free or other organisations such as Victim Support, The Survivors Trust or Male Survivors Partnership
