Doctor barred over ‘heinous’ child sexual abuse crimes
- Dignity 4Patients
- Jan 29
- 3 min read
Updated: May 15
By Hannah Richardson - Leicester Mercury - 29.01.2025 - [ENGLAND] - [Dr. Sharmake Abdulahi Maxamed] A Leicester doctor can no longer practice medicine after being convicted of “heinous” child sexual abuse crimes. Sharmake Abdulahi Maxamed had 52 indecent images and videos of children on his phone when it was seized by police in October 2021, shortly after he started working at George Eliot Hospital, in Nuneaton.
Of those, 28 were classed as category A, the most extreme, and Maxamed was found to have viewed such images and videos while at work. Maxamed also used messaging app Telegram to exchange indecent images of children and to discuss violent crimes, including murder, being committed against them, a Medical Practitioners Tribunal report stated. He described such acts as “hot”, it added.
The abused children were aged two months to 10 years, the report continued, and some exhibited “clear signs of distress”. A tribunal ruling on Maxamed's fitness to practice medicine described his conduct as “so heinous that it was not remediable”. Maxamed, of Canal Street, Aylestone, Leicester, was also found to be in possession of cocaine when police searched his flat in October 2021. The tribunal report said he had attended work “under the influence of illegal Class A drugs”, but did not specify how many times this had occurred.
Maxamed was handed a 10 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, 140 hours of unpaid work and 55 days of rehabilitation activity when he was sentenced for his crimes at Leicester Crown Court in March last year. He was also placed on the sexual offenders register for 10 years. His sentence was reduced because he had pleaded guilty - but the tribunal panel heard that the forensic examination of his phone “probably” left Maxamed with “little choice but to enter a guilty plea”. Maxamed had originally denied the accusations, saying the nature of the crimes went “against [his] moral fabric”. The tribunal panel ruled that Maxamed should be erased from the Medical Practitioner Register with immediate effect following a hearing this month (January). Panel members said the case was “so deplorable and egregious that it cannot be remedied”, and only immediately removing him from the register was considered appropriate. Medical professionals have to be on the register to be legally able to practice medicine in the UK, so this effectively bars him from the profession.
Maxamed had been working at the George Eliot, a hospital used by many south Leicestershire residents, for eight days when he was arrested. He did not work with children, and, as a newly employed doctor, was still being chaperoned at work prior to his arrest. His contract with the hospital had been terminated by the time of his court sentencing last year.
Maxamed, who did not attend the tribunal hearing, has the right to appeal the decision within 28 days of the decision. In the event of an appeal, he will remain suspended until it is determined.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article and were abused in state run medical and health facilities, you can contact Dignity4Patients, whose helpline is open Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm.
Dignity4Patients Commentary:- If a doctor has been removed from the GMC register, thereby losing the legal right to practice medicine in the UK, is this information communicated to regulatory bodies in other regions? If not, this should be prioritised to prevent potential risks to patients in different jurisdictions. #MedicalCouncil #Sanctions #SharingOfInformation #Safeguarding
