GP who sent revenge porn can still work
AGP who sent explicit pictures of a married man to the man’s wife in a revenge porn case has been allowed to keep his job.
Jonathan Darby admitted sending sexual photographs to his victim’s wife on WhatsApp and even arranged for the intimate pictures to be sent to his children.
But the NHS medic – who advised the BBC on scripts for its Birminghammade show Doctors – avoided jail for his offending and instead was handed a suspended sentence.
The doctor – who qualified in 1984 – had worked as a GP partner at Halesowen Medical Practice from 1989 before eventually retiring in August.
The panel heard how Darby, who had an unblemished and lengthy career, still hopes to continue to support the NHS as a locum doctor.
Darby had forwarded information gathered by a private investigator to the victim’s family.
He later discovered sexual photographs of the victim and sent them to the man’s wife on WhatsApp before arranging to post the crude pictures to his children.
The GP was interviewed by police after the victim made a complaint to officers in May 2020.
Darby ‘intended’ to cause his victim ‘distress’ and his actions were ‘clouded by his heightened emotions’, the panel was told.
A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel found his fitness to practise was impaired and that his actions amounted to misconduct.
But it did not strip him of his licence to practise medicine and instead gave him a six-month suspension order.
His actions were not ‘so egregious’ that the public should be ‘deprived of an otherwise clinically competent doctor,’ it ruled.
The panel said: “The tribunal is satisfied that the criminal conviction, along with these regulatory proceedings, have been a salutary lesson to Dr Darby. It considered it very unlikely that his behaviour would be repeated.”
It added: “The tribunal took the view that his reflective statement demonstrates that he is shocked at how he acted and that his regret is genuine.”
Darby was convicted at Kidderminister Magistrates’ Court of disclosing a private sexual photograph or film between March 31 and May 7, 2020.
He was given a 26-week sentence, suspended for 12 months, as well as a two-year restraining order against four people, in October last year.
In a statement Darby said he ‘wholeheartedly’ wanted to apologise to his victim and regretted his actions.
The medic said: “To say the events of the past few years have been a learning point would be an understatement; if I could go back and change what I did, then I would undoubtedly do so.
“With the benefit of hindsight, I fully see that my actions were entirely misguided and that I let my own personal situation cloud my better judgement.”
He added: “In this instance, I failed to behave in the way that I would have expected of myself as a professional and this clearly has a wider impact in terms of my standing as a doctor.
“I have truly lived to regret this ever since.”