Former Royal Surrey Doctor Struck Off

Published on: 14 Dec, 2023
Updated on: 17 Dec, 2023

Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester (photo Google Street View)

By Chris Caulfield

local democracy democracy

A Surrey doctor who used his position to gain the trust of a woman before choking and sexually assaulting her has been struck off.

Former Royal Surrey County Hospital doctor Adnan Sadiq texted the woman saying “I’m a doctor, I save lives”, “You can trust me”, “I’m a nice guy” and “you don’t have to worry” before meeting with the woman during lockdown and assaulting her.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found that he placed both hands on the woman’s neck, anonymised as Ms A, and applied pressure.

He also pushed Ms A’s head towards his exposed penis, before asking if he could ‘put it in’ or words to that effect during the November 2020 predatory attack.

When questioned Ms A told the tribunal: “I genuinely feared for my life and was glad to escape… it took me a while to realise that what had happened was not ok.”

Dr Sadiq initially denied choking was his kink, but later accepted he liked it in a sexual context, according to the tribunal report.

Allegations he sent explicit images over snapchat were not proven but overall his behaviour was so egregious that he was struck off as a doctor.

The report read: “Dr Sadiq’s actions would undermine public trust and confidence in him, as well as in the medical profession.”

Dr Sadiq qualified in 2020 from University of Szeged, Hungary, and moved to Britain to take up his first medical post in October 2020.

A month later he began texting the woman before going on to sexually assault her. During evidence he gave answers that were “too implausible to be truthful”.

He also contradicted himself in relation to his predilections and other topics. For example, when asked about kissing Ms A, he said: “We both kissed at the same time… because her face was coming towards me and I didn’t want her to feel awkward.’’

The report added: “The tribunal considered Dr Sadiq’s actions to amount to sexual assault, with an element of violence.

“The tribunal was concerned as to his apparent continued lack of insight into the seriousness of his actions and their consequences for (the woman) and public confidence in doctors.

“Erasure is the only appropriate and proportionate sanction sufficient to maintain public confidence in the medical profession and to uphold standards of conduct for doctors.”

The tribunal determined that Dr Sadiq’s name should be erased from the medical register.

The General Medical Council suspended Dr Sadiq in September 2023 and he was immediately stopped from working at Royal Surrey. The full tribunal process concluded in November and he was erased from the medical register.

The Royal Surrey County Hospital

A spokesperson for the hospital trust said: “In May 2021 the General Medical Council informed the Royal Surrey County Hospital that an allegation had been made against Dr Sadiq regarding inappropriate sexual conduct outside of the trust.

“Since then we have followed clear and robust processes in a timely way, appropriately reflecting the investigations and decisions taken by the GMC and Surrey Police at each stage.

“While this incident occurred outside of our workplace, we expect anyone employed by our trust to uphold the highest moral standards and would like to express sympathy for the distress caused to the complainant in this case.”

A spokesperson for Surrey Police said they received a sexual assault report in February 2021 and later arrested a 30-year-old man.

The spokesperson said: “Following our investigation, officers concluded there was not sufficient evidence to proceed with the case. The victim was kept informed throughout and supported by officers.

“The man arrested was a medical professional at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust and Surrey Police provided information to the General Medical Council about the investigation.”