Review date set for disgraced Wigan heart doctor

A former Wigan doctor, suspended after being punished for beating his teenage daughter with a walking stick, will have his case reviewed later this month.
Dr Gohar RahmanDr Gohar Rahman
Dr Gohar Rahman

Dr Gohar Rahman was initially stood down for 12 months by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) in November 2016 after he attacked the teenager following a row over her going to a Halloween party.

A fitness to practice (FTP) hearing imposed the suspension after ruling that the then-Wigan Infirmary heart specialist’s conduct amounted to “behaviour unbefitting of a registered doctor”.

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Rahman, then 57, who lived in Standish at the time, had also been given a 10-month suspended prison sentence over the November 2015 incident.

The FTP panel was told that the doctor’s daughter, then 17, had defied her parents by attending a Halloween party, after claiming she was going to a friend’s house and would be home by 9.30pm.

But after the party she went out in Wigan and then slept over at a male friend’s house, the panel heard.

Rahman launched the attack after going to pick her up in his car the next day, it was said.

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Liverpool Crown Court heard that the doctor began a “sustained assault” by grabbing her hair, in the car, and banging her head two or three times into the back of the front passenger seat.

Once the vehicle had pulled up, he dragged her out of the car before shouting and hitting her on the arms and back.

His daughter fell to the floor and when she tried to get to her feet, he slapped her, the court heard.

Later she described to police how she had laid on the floor, “too scared to move”, as he continued to kick and hit her.

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Prosecutors said he was “angry, looking like a monster” as she prepared herself for more blows.

He labelled his daughter a “prostitute” and accused her of bringing shame on the family by her actions.

Rahman, who pleaded guilty to assault, was also ordered to complete 100 hours community service.

He spoke of his regret at the time as he was usually a “calm and quiet person”.

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A spokesman for the MPTS said: “The tribunal will review the case of Dr Rahman, whose fitness to practise has previously been found to be impaired by reason of a conviction or caution, and whose registration is suspended until September 21, 2018.”

Rahman remained on the payroll for Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh (WWL) NHS Foundation Trust for a number of months following his suspension being announced.

But it was understood at the time that he had remained on sick leave, delaying the expected disciplinary process, which would have resolved his future status.

He is no longer employed by WWL, the trust has confirmed.

Rahman, who had worked for the trust since 2005 after first qualifying in Pakistan, will face a review hearing in Manchester on August 31