Voyeur doctor struck off after secretly filming in bathroom

A doctor who claimed he hid cameras to film friends and colleagues in the bathroom due to concerns over the size of his penis has been struck off the medical register.

Anaesthetist Ju Young Um was jailed for 18 months last year after being found guilty of hiding recording devices in air fresheners and a smoke alarm in his flat in Glasgow's west end and in staff accommodation at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.

A hearing earlier this week by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled that Um had shown "limited insight" into the crime and he had taken "very few remedial steps".

It stated there was a "high risk of repetition" and Um should therefore be struck off.

A jury at Glasgow Sheriff Court found Um guilty of a total of 23 charges under the Sexual Offences Act, committed between November 2020 and August 2023.

The 34-year-old claimed he had recorded 30 different people and used the footage to compare himself to other men. He was later diagnosed as having a form of body dysmorphia.

A total of 21 men and nine women, four of whom were doctors, were filmed by Um.

He was released from prison earlier this year.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service said erasure from the medical register was the only suitable option, given "his actions fall far short of proper professional standards and conduct for medical practitioners".

It also felt that "a member of the public would be shocked if they learned that a doctor in these circumstances was allowed to practise again" after only a suspension.

A submission made in Um's defence said the former doctor now agreed his behaviour had been sexually motivated, but that "this was not an easy matter to accept".

Um now accepted he had been "kidding himself" when he denied there was a sexual element to his crimes, but his counsel Anthony Haycroft said the crimes had been of a medium level, as they were non-contact offences.

He added that Um was regarded as an excellent doctor.

The tribunal said it noted his skills as a doctor and took that into consideration for the verdict.

It said Um's behaviour has caused serious harm, and the conviction for multiple sexual offences was very serious, with the potential for re-offending.

Should he be allowed to continue practising, it would undermine public confidence in the profession and his behaviour had showed a lack of integrity.

In court last year his lawyer said his client was aware of the "harm and distress he has caused his victims," and acknowledged his crimes were "morally wrong".