Dr Gharib-Omar later told the GMC how he prescribe

Dr Gharib-Omar later told the GMC how he prescribed the drugs for his brother and a cousin after they pressured him into doing it.

Giving evidence the doctor said: ‘The family look on me as a doctor and they pressured me.

I was so embarrassed I looked at the prescription and asked about their illness and then I prescribed the medication.

‘I wanted to help my family.

It was foolish of me.

I should have destroyed the pad but I didn’t.

‘

Giving evidence as a character witness fellow psychiatrist, Dr Stephen Lomax, who has known Dr Gharib-Omar for eight years, said he was ‘astonished’ when he heard of the allegations.

But Dr Lomax, who runs a practice in the northwest of England, has taken Dr Gharib-Omar on as an employee.

‘In the time I have known him nothing has occurred which has suggested to me his character lacks integrity.

‘His relationships with other staff and patients are always professional.

‘

And Dr Gharib-Omar’s solicitor Miles Bennett urged the GMC: ‘Here is a man who is not a danger to the public.

‘

The hearing continues.

ends