Former Halesowen GP suspended after sending revenge porn to man's wife and children
A Halesowen GP who worked as a script advisor on a popular soap has been struck off for six months after sending revenge porn.
Dr Jonathan Darby, who worked at Halesowen Medical Practice, was convicted of sending "private sexual photos" of a man to the man's wife and children as an act of "revenge".
The GP, who worked as a script advisor on BBC One's daytime soap, Doctors, received notification from Kidderminster Police Station in May 2020 that 'Mr A' had made a complaint against him.
At a police interview on May 9, 2021, it was put to Dr Darby that he had allegedly sent letters, messages, and emails to 'Mr A' and his family, and that some of these communications included indecent images.
He was asked why further correspondence had been sent after being spoken to by the police regarding the matter and he stated that further correspondence was by way of an apology.
Dr Darby, of Hill Grove Crescent in Kidderminster, was sentenced to 26 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court in October 2021. A two-year restraining order was also taken out against four individuals.
In September this year, the doctor was hauled before a medical tribunal and suspended as a doctor for six months, but managed to avoid being struck off completely.
At the tribunal, Darby claimed in his first statement that he was a "victim". However, in his second statement he said: "I cannot begin to describe how much I regret this and the obvious impact this has on the wider profession of doctors.
"Ultimately, my actions serve to damage the confidence of the public in the profession. To say the events of the past few years have been a learning point would be an understatement; if I could go back and change what I did, then I would undoubtedly do so.
"With the benefit of hindsight, I fully see that my actions were entirely misguided and that I let my own personal situation cloud my better judgement."
He added: "Clearly, as a doctor, it is vital to be able to separate one’s personal and professional life.
"In this instance, I failed to behave in the way that I would have expected of myself as a professional and this clearly has a wider impact in terms of my standing as a doctor.
"I have truly lived to regret this ever since. I would wish to apologise wholeheartedly to all involved in this matter. This includes not only the family of Mr A, but also my regulator.
"I am mortified that the GMC (General Medical Council) has now spent time in investigating and preparing this case and further that the matter now also goes before the MPTS (Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service)."
Dr Darby qualified as a doctor in 1984 from the University of Birmingham and qualified as a GP in 1989.
From 1989, he worked as a GP Partner at the Halesowen Medical Practice, retiring in 2016. He continued to work as a part-time salaried GP at the practice until this year, when he retired completely, at the end of August 2022.
The tribunal declared that striking off Dr Darby would be "disproportionate", considering the GP's "developing insight" and "other mitigating factors".
The report of the tribunal continued: "The tribunal was satisfied that the actions resulting in his conviction were not so egregious as to warrant permanently depriving the public of an otherwise clinically competent doctor."
Despite his suspension, Dr Darby still intends to return to medicine. The report from the medical tribunal said that the GP "has lived medicine for over 38 years. He told the tribunal that medicine is a huge part of his life, and he would like to continue to practise."
The report goes on to say: "He stated that he has reflected a lot since the incident, that not a day goes by where he doesn’t think of it, and he will continue to reflect for the rest of his life."
