John Husband 57

Description

Pervert John Husband will never be able to return to work as an occupational therapist following his criminal conviction.

An occupational therapist who escaped jail despite being found in possession of 1.7m indecent images of children has been struck off.

John Husband, then 55, of Snow's Green Road, Shotley Bridge, County Durham, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images, possession prohibited images of a child and possessing extreme pornography in November last year.

When he was arrested in June 2020 at his then-Newcastle address, police officers found horrifying images on 43 different devices - and of the 12 that were forensically examined, police found eight images of the most serious type, category A, 11 category B and 32,090 category C.

Now, the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service has confirmed he has been struck off the medical register following a hearing of the HCPTS's Conduct and Competence Committee last week. Husband admitted the charges ahead of trial, and was given a 22-month jail sentence suspended for two years with a six month curfew and a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender registration for 10 years.

The tribunal considered the seriousness of his offending and the length of sentence in its deliberations. Following the hearing held between September 26 and 29, Husband was struck off. He had previously worked in acute mental health services in the city.

In its findings, the tribunal stated: "[Husband's] submissions do not adequately reflect an acknowledgment of the actual or potential effect of his behaviour on others. [He] qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1993, and as part of his training and subsequent practice had undergone safeguarding training that would have alerted him to the consequences of this type of behaviour/ conduct. In addition, the Panel noted that the [he] had worked in acute mental health services."

The panel said they agreed with Judge Stephen Earl, who at Newcastle Crown Court last year said: " I am not certain that there is any more remorse than the fact that you have been captured."

Husband had not attended the hearing - he indicated via email in August that he would not be present nor would he require legal representation. The hearing was also due to consider whether Husband had a health condition impairing his fitness to practice - but did not do so after finding that his convictions in themselves were worthy of striking off.

The tribunal findings also highlighted how that, "by the nature of the work they do", occupational therapists came into contact with vulnerable individuals - and that Husband's behaviour "very serious particularly in view of the nature of the images involved, the number of the images involved and the fact that the behaviour continued for many years".

The tribunal also found: "There is a risk that the Registrant will repeat behaviour of the sort he indulged in. That risk would necessarily translate into a risk of harm to patients were the registrant to be able to return to practise as an Occupational Therapist."