Liverpool doctor caught with drug-filled birthday card knew what he was doing and regrets his stupidity
A Liverpool doctor convicted after he took delivery of drugs in a birthday card “knew what he was letting himself in for”, a tribunal has been told.
While living out in Malta as a trainee, Dr Sean Welsh agreed to receive a package containing cannabis and ketamine.
This resulted in the 32-year-old being given a suspended prison sentence and €500 fine back in 2018. On returning to the UK, however, Dr Welsh failed to declare his conviction when applying for a place on a training course.
The second day of a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing into his conduct was told how the former University of Malta student, who began his studies at home in Liverpool, had behaved in a way that was a “very serious departure from the standards of conduct and behaviour expected.” The doctor’s advocate said his client accepted he had done wrong but was at a low risk of reoffending.
During the opening day of proceedings, Dr Welsh told the hearing how he attended a New Year’s Eve party in 2017 when a friend of his cousin told him how he would be attending the Lost and Found music festival on the island in 2018. The doctor said the man asked if drugs were easily accessible in Malta but said as he didn’t do them, he wouldn’t know.
His cousin’s friend then suggested sending drugs over to Dr Welsh’s flat through the post in a birthday card. The man told the doctor how it would be addressed to a different name to his and there would be “no problem with you.”
Dr Welsh said he then “foolishly” agreed to take the card and gave his cousin’s friend the address. He said it was something he came to “deeply, deeply regret” and described it as “stupid.”
The hearing was told how it was intended that two cards containing packages of drugs would arrive. Dr Welsh said he was told the first package, which was found by police at his flat, contained cannabis and ketamine.
When police visited his flat, Dr Welsh said he told officers the drugs were not for him and complied before being taken to spend a night in the cells. He was charged and sentenced the next day.
Alan Taylor, on behalf of the General Medical Council, pointed to the fact the convictions were for drug offences and how Dr Welsh would have known what to expect. He said: “He plainly knew what he was getting into and what he was letting himself in for.”
Mr Taylor said the offences were of a “serious” nature and represented a “very serious departure from the standards of conduct and behaviour expected.” In September 2019, Dr Welsh submitted a form for a place on the UK foundation programme, a two-year work-based training scheme to bridge the gap between medical school and the workplace.
It was at this point, an enhanced DBS check highlighted his conviction, despite him filling in a form to the contrary. Dr Stephen Wiggans, director of professional standards at Blackpool Hospital where Dr Welsh initially worked on his return home, said he was “clear about the error he had made” and the impact it would have on his career.
He described his former colleague as a “good guy, caring, diligent, goes about his job in the right way.”
Roy Donnelly, representing Dr Welsh, said his client accepted the situation in which he found himself and did not seek to argue his fitness to practise was not impaired. Mr Donnelly said the doctor’s “acts of dishonesty were limited” and took place more than seven years ago, which suggested the risk of repetition was “very low.”
The hearing continues.