Psychologist ‘groomed’ his married patient

A NEUROPSYCHOLOGIST who encouraged a married patient to leave her husband and took her out for lunch has been struck off.

Dr Darren Mockler, 54, touched the woman’s leg and suggested they could be friends and “maybe more” while treating her. A panel found his behaviour was tantamount to grooming.

Dr Mockler, a clinical neuropsychologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, told the married mother-of-two who, in 2015, developed a condition called functional neurological disorder, that he could treat her at home. But the woman said the clinician conducted interviews with her in an upstairs bedroom in an otherwise empty house, asking about her sexual relationship with her husband and telling her: “Our relationship will change.”

In Dr Mockler’s sole correspondence with the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service, a letter dated Jan 9 2018, he denied all allegations as well as that his actions had been sexually motivated. He denied taking her to lunch.

But the panel found her evidence to be “clear and compelling” and said it was “more likely than not that Mockler encouraged [her] to leave her husband and by doing so breached professional boundaries”. The panel concluded public protection outweighed Mockler’s interests and that only a striking off order would protect the public.