A former NHS doctor has been struck off after a search of his laptop uncovered more than 1,500 indecent images – including 22 movies and 196 photographs of the most serious type of child abuse. His wife found these images when she went on his laptop to watch Game of Thrones.
Dr Christopher Ball-Nossa, 35, was arrested and found guilty of six charges of possessing indecent images after his wife found the file titled ‘child porn 3-16’ and turned over the computer to the Police,
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service stated that having these images was a ‘fundamental breach of the public’s trust in doctors’.
The Chairman of the tribunal Geoffrey Payne stated:
The Tribunal considered that a reasonable and well-informed member of the public would be horrified to learn that a doctor had downloaded indecent images of children.
It was further noted that, although this was Dr Ball-Nossa’s first offence, there is evidence to suggest that [his wife] found similar material on his laptop nine years previously.
The evidence before the Tribunal suggests that Dr Ball-Nossa’s impulses to view indecent images of children is an entrenched problem that has been ongoing throughout his adult life.’
It was of particular concern that Dr Ball-Nossa claimed that he was not viewing these images for sexual gratification, but instead described using these images as a way to ‘calm’ himself.
The Tribunal does not accept that that was the purpose, because it considered such an account to be inherently implausible.
Even if Dr Ball-Nossa was using these images to ‘calm’ himself, he has not provided any evidence to show how he will avoid looking at similar images in future if he finds himself in a stressful situation.
The Tribunal considered this of particular relevance given the stressful nature of his job as a medical practitioner.
Accordingly, and bearing all of the above in mind, the Tribunal determined that Dr Ball-Nossa’s fitness to practise is impaired by reason of his conviction.
The Tribunal considered the criminal behaviour that gave rise to Dr Ball-Nossa’s conviction involves a fundamental breach of the public’s trust in doctors, and has inevitably brought the profession into disrepute.
It has therefore been determined that Dr Ball-Nossa’s name be erased from the Medical Register.
Ball-Nosa has lost his job and is banned indefinitely from practising medicine which means he will never be a Doctor again.
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