Junior doctor Moshan Anwar suspended over indecent images

Anwar was convicted at a court hearing in June last year

A doctor has been suspended from the medical register for a year, for possessing indecent images.

Junior doctor Moshan Anwar was handed a community sentence after admitting having a child abuse video and one of extreme pornography on his phone.

He had been finishing his final year student placement in Bangor, Gwynedd, when the images from a WhatsApp messaging group were discovered.

A tribunal said the offence was "extremely serious" and "inexcusable".

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service told Anwar there would be a review at the end of 12 months before a decision was taken on whether his suspension should be lifted.

Anwar, who was living on Anglesey at the time of the offences, pleaded guilty at Caernarfon Magistrates' Court in June last year.

He had been arrested in October 2019 and questioned about a video on his phone, which had been shared by members of two WhatsApp groups he belonged to.

A statement of facts presented to the tribunal found Anwar had no sexual interest in the images, which were sent to him unsolicited.

The doctor considered them to be part of "lads' banter" and crude humour.

'Abhorrent and grotesque'

The tribunal hearing found that by "finding humour and commenting on the videos", Anwar had failed to consider the needs and welfare of those depicted - including a child.

Handing down the suspension, the panel said it was "in no doubt" that members of the public and the medical profession would consider viewing and finding humour in the videos as both "abhorrent and grotesque".

At the time of his court appearance last year, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said Anwar remained excluded from the organisation and suspended from his training programme.

In addition to a 300 hour community service sentence on his conviction, magistrates also ordered Anwar must register as a sex offender for five years.