A pharmacist who had been convicted of drink driving offences and who appeared to have been drinking while at work is to have his name remove from the register by order of the Statutory Committee.
At its meeting on June 15, the committee inquired into the case of Mr Harry Ian Robshaw, of 49 Ferryridge Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire.
Information had been received that on September 5, 1996, at Wigan magistrates' court, Mr Robshaw had pleaded guilty to and been convicted of driving a motor vehicle when his alcohol level was 84µg in 100ml of breath. For that offence, he had been fined £500, with £40 costs, and disqualified from driving for 18 months.
Three years later, on August 31, 1999, again at Wigan magistrates' court, Mr Robshaw had pleaded guilty to and been convicted of driving a car with 125µg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. For that he had been sentenced to 120 days' imprisonment and disqualified from driving for five years.
The committee had also received a complaint from the Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society which alleged that on dates between June 7 and 24, 1999, employees of the pharmacy at which Mr Robshaw had been working had found him asleep in his car, parked behind the pharmacy, when he should have been supervising the dispensary. He had also seemed uncoordinated while on the premises.
Mr G. R. F. Hudson, of Penningtons (solicitors), appeared in order to present the facts of the case to the committee.
Mr J. Fisher, of counsel, instructed by Charles Russell (solicitors), appeared to represent Mr Robshaw, who was not present at the hearing.
Giving the committee's decision, the chairman (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, QC) said that from the submissions made on Mr Robshaw's behalf, it was accepted that he had been an exceptionally able and competent pharmacist and earlier in his career had been promoted to positions of significant managerial responsibility by his then employers.
The facts pointed to an unhappy history of excess alcohol consumption while Mr Robshaw had been employed as a pharmacist.
It was unfortunate that the first drink driving offence had not been notified to the Society; it might have been possible at that time to have ensured that the appropriate treatment had been offered.
It had been argued for Mr Robshaw that the case should be adjourned for 12 months before the committee came to a decision. He was undertaking treatment and the committee hoped that that treatment would be successful. But there was an issue of public safety involved while Mr Robshaw remained on the register as, in spite of any undertaking given, there was nothing in law to prevent him from working as a pharmacist.
The committee ordered that Mr Robshaw's name should be removed from the register. He has three months in which to appeal.