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A pharmacist who was previously removed from the register in 2013 amid allegations of controlled drug (CD) theft has been removed a second time after his employers uncovered he had stolen “large quantities” of Schedule 4 and 5 CDs and other medicines from the pharmacy where he worked as a locum less than a year after being readmitted to the profession.

Fraser Mabbott went before the General Pharmaceutical Council’s fitness to practise committee (FTPC) on January 19-23 over allegations he had appropriated CDs over several months from Davidsons Chemists in 2023, for whom he worked as a relief pharmacist across several branches.

According to a contemporaneous note sent to the GPhC by his former employers and signed by Mr Mabbott, on November 27, 2023 he was discovered with packs of Oramorph and other CDs in his jacket and his bag which he admitted to having taken from several branches “since the summer”.

While he at first told the superintendent pharmacist that he had taken no other medicines during his time working at Davidsons, a subsequent search of his car uncovered more prescription drugs.

He was dismissed from his role on the spot for his theft of medicines including tramadol, zopiclone, diazepam and sildenafil. In one instance, he had removed a patient-returned Schedule 2 CD.

The FTPC described the misconduct that was uncovered in 2023 as “identical behaviour” to events in 2012 that saw him apply for voluntary removal from the register after he received a one-year suspension order and conditions of practice for removing dihydrocodeine from his place of employment and working while under the influence of that drug.

When he applied to be removed from the register, he commented that “the reality of being registered with conditions was no company would risk employing” him.

He applied to rejoin the register in April 2022, stating he was confident there would be no repetition of the misconduct, and was accepted back on the register in September 2022.

The FTPC concluded that the more recent misconduct was “an escalation in seriousness as it had involved a large variety of medication including some of a higher risk and more controlled categories”.

The committee also noted that the behaviour “had been repeated on a number of occasions, at different pharmacies, over a period of time,” undermining his function as a “gatekeeper for medicines” and falling “far below the standards expected of registered pharmacy professionals”.

Mr Mabbott expressed remorse for his actions and acknowledged his behaviour could undermine public trust in the profession. He said that in his current role he acts with honesty and integrity and suggested this shows his fitness to practise is no longer impaired, though he acknowledged it had been in the past.

He told the FTPC he has a good support network around him, including a witness named in the FTP report as Dr B who said that while Mr Mabbott was not ready to return to dispensing he “would be incredible as a primary care pharmacist”.

However, the committee found his insight into the impact of his actions on the public was limited, though it acknowledged that “this may be a natural consequence of the stage of recovery the registrant has reached” in his efforts to overcome addiction.

The committee considered that as a previous suspension order had not prevented a repetition of misconduct, the risk of imposing a sanction other than removal was too great. It moved to strike him off the register, imposing an interim suspension order during the 28-day appeal period.