I became surgeon to protect children, says accused

Dr Raed Al-Mobayed is alleged to have downloaded 153 indecent images of children while working at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil

A surgeon accused of possessing 153 indecent images of children has said he entered the profession "to protect children".

Dr Raed Al-Mobayed, 46, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, is charged with possessing indecent images of children and three extreme pornographic videos.

The images were allegedly downloaded between 2008 and 2009, while he was working at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

Dr Al-Mobayed denies both the charges against him.

Swansea’s Nightingale Court heard that the surgeon grew up in Gaza before leaving when he was 17 to become a doctor in the UK.

"When you’re surrounded by so much pain and suffering I wanted to help in some way, I made it my mission to come here and do my A-levels and go into medicine," he told the court.

Dr Al-Mobayed denies both the charges against him

The trial previously heard that his ex-partner Zoe Middleton reported the laptop to the police after finding it in the attic of their former home after they split in 2017.

A police investigation found two category A videos of children and three videos of extreme pornography, along with nine category A images, 15 category B images and 129 category C images.

Asked by defence barrister Nigel Fryer if he had ever had sexual interest in children, the defendant answered: "Never. Never will be. I got into the profession I’m in to try and protect children."

The defendant was asked if he was responsible for the illegal images, to which he responded: “Absolutely not."

Dr Al-Mobayed told the court that, during the time of the alleged offences, he was training as a junior doctor at Prince Charles Hospital between 2008-2009.

The trial heard the defendant would spend time in the “doctors' mess” while on shift - a place where doctors could eat and socialise.

Mr Fryer asked Dr Al-Mobayed who had access to the mess, to which he responded any doctors who were on shift, including trainees, agency and permanent staff.

Dr Al-Mobayed said the security for the room "was very lapse" and he would often leave his belongings and open laptop in there for periods of time.

"Everyone felt it was safe," he said.

James Evans, prosecuting, told Dr Al-Mobayed the computer analyst found “hundreds of pornographic websites” that were accessed on his laptop, with a “large number of sites” suggesting pornographic material involving teenagers.

Mr Evans said there were other websites suggesting images of virgins, and asked the defendant if he was suggesting the websites were visited by someone else, to which he responded “it wasn’t me.”

“The only one I remember is Pornhub,” Dr Al-Mobayed added.

Mr Evans asked if the defendant remembered accessing an escort service, and he said "no".

The court was told the defendant's iPhone was backed-up on the laptop in March 2009.

Mr Evans told the defendant that “34 minutes later, an indecent image is viewed that creates a link file after you’ve backed up your phone”.

He asked the defendant if that did not make it clear it was him viewing the image, and the defendant replied “no”.

The trial continues.

This article originally stated the offences occurred between 2006-09 after these dates were read in court. They have since been corrected to 2008-09 by the court, which has now been reflected in this article.