Pakistani doctor who sexually harassed nurse and BLAMED UK culture keeps his job
A PAKISTANI doctor who blamed “cultural” differences after molesting a student nurse is to keep his job.
Married father-of-two Imran Qureshi, 44, was convicted of sexual assault by Manchester Crown Court in June last year.
He was told to do 12 months community service and sign the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
But this week the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester agreed he could practise as a doctor again after a 12-month suspension.
Qureshi grabbed the 21-year-old nurse’s breast and told her he wanted an affair.
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Given the length of time you had been in the United Kingdom at that stage and the fact you were fully aware of the differences in culture
He told the court he believed the fact she had previous boyfriends meant she was “sexually available”.
Qureshi admitted a “misjudgment” but said Britain’s “cultural norms” were different from those in his native Pakistan and for that reason he failed to spot a “red light” warning him not to make advances.
The Muslim student – named as Miss A – was said to be “shaken up and distraught” after the locum senior house officer grabbed her breast.
The victim said she found it difficult to trust male colleagues after the encounter and it had affected her studies.
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At the medical tribunal hearing, chairman Nicholas Flanagan told Qureshi: “You showed a lack of empathy towards Miss A and ignored her objections to your behaviour.
“Given the length of time you had been in the United Kingdom at that stage and the fact you were fully aware of the differences in culture, because of your experiences with your wife, you should have recognised Miss A’s reluctance in light of your shared cultural understanding.”
However, he said the tribunal was “just satisfied” that erasing his name from the medical register would be “disproportionate, punitive and not in the public interest”.
The groping took place at Trafford General Hospital, Greater Manchester, in 2015 when Miss A was on a work placement.
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Rebecca Vanstone, for the General Medical Council, said Qureshi touched Miss A’s chest at the top, grabbed her right breast, then became aggressive.
Miss A informed her mentor who said she appeared to be nervous, shaken up and distraught.
The doctor’s lawyer Lee Gledhill told the tribunal: “This was a moment of madness.”
