Handsworth physiotherapist struck off for weapons dealing

A physiotherapist has been struck off the healthcare register after being convicted of conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons and ammunition.

Dr Mohinder Surdhar had been employed by Worcester Health and Care Trust when he admitted the offence and was jailed for 14 years in January.

A healthcare tribunal panel said his conduct was "appalling" and a "fundamental departure" from trust.

Surdhar was neither present nor represented at the hearing.

Surdhar, then 58, of Grove Lane, Handsworth, was jailed for using a legitimate firearms certificate to get weapons which were sold on by co-conspirators for up to £3,000.

Weapons used in 11 non-fatal incidents and 28 other shootings had been linked to him, police said.

Surdhar had acted as a middleman to Gloucestershire-based gun dealer Paul Edmunds and both were the subjects of West Midlands Police "Operation Gold Dust", Birmingham Crown Court heard earlier this year.

Police likened Edmunds and Surdhar to the lead characters in the TV series Breaking Bad - as they acted together to supply antique revolvers and custom-made ammunition to criminal gangs.

He was "the fulcrum in the supply of prohibited weapons and ammunition to criminal gangs" and his criminal activity persisted for a "significant period of time", the conduct and competence committee of the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) heard.

The panel, at a hearing in London on 27 July, also learned that Surdhar's activity "involved hundreds of weapons, and weapons he had supplied had been used in the death of three people".

Panel chair Michael McCulley said: "Members of the public would be appalled by the registrant's conduct and behaviour.

"His personal conduct was a fundamental departure from the level of trust and confidence expected of a registered physiotherapist."