Doctor has 'no faith' deputy will be suspended

Dr Sandie Bohin is a consultant paediatrician in Guernsey

The doctor who made a complaint about the conduct of one of Guernsey's most senior politicians has said she has "no faith" his punishment will be delivered.

Dr Sandie Bohin was speaking after Guernsey's parliamentary standards watchdog said Deputy Gavin St Pier had broken the States code of conduct and should be suspended for 25 days after he had a conversation with a journalist from The Guardian newspaper.

It follows a long-running saga between St Pier and Dr Bohin after he named her in the States in 2022 as one of the clinicians involved in an investigation into safeguarding.

The investigation found no wrongdoing.

Dr Bohin made a complaint about St Pier in January, after she was contacted by The Guardian journalist. She described the letter from the journalist as "inaccurate" and "dreadful".

An investigation by Dr Melissa McCullough found St Pier's actions constituted bullying, breached six sections of the States' code of conduct and were not in the public interest.

Following the release of the conduct report, Dr Bohin said she was "relieved" the commissioner for standards had upheld her complaint and found St Pier had broken the code.

Deputy Gavin St Pier was also found to have breached the States' code of conduct in 2024 and given a formal reprimand

In response, St Pier said he believed this set a dangerous precedent for politicians in their interactions with the media. He labelled the judgement "extraordinary and dystopian".

"If the States endorse this recommendation to suspend me, they will be setting a very dangerous precedent for deputies, and for the fundamental role we play in seeking accountability and challenging vested interests.

"In short, the use of the States' code of conduct to prevent elected representatives from speaking to the media about public interest issues undermines democracy."

Dr Bohin said she disagreed: "I think politicians can talk to the media as part of their role because that is in the public interest."

But she argued the exchange St Pier had with The Guardian was not in the public interest.

'Reputation ruined'

Dr Bohin said she did not believe the States would vote to suspend St Pier when it debated the issue in November.

She added that while the commissioner for standards and appeals commissioner had conducted a thorough investigation, it was the political part of the process she had no faith in.

She claimed the saga had been designed to "ruin her reputation".

"It's a huge event for me and is absolutely designed to ruin my reputation and once that is done living on a small island it's very difficult to come back from that."

Dr Bohin said this judgement should also put pressure on the Policy and Resources Committee (P&R), of which St Pier is the Vice-President.

"The president of P&R [Lindsay de Sausmarez] last term made a big issue out of bullying and now she finds that her deputy has been found to be a bully.

"So I would find it very hard for her to ignore that but nothing would surprise me in Guernsey."

In response to Dr Bohin's comments, Sausmarez said: "We're not going to comment in advance of the assembly having the opportunity to consider it."