Doctor is jailed for lies over jail death

Dr Mohammed Khan's actions were blasted by a High Court judge who said he had "never seen a more devious manipulation of medical notes" and that he was "shocked by them."

The hard-working and respected family GP who was also a senior medical officer at Doncaster Prison, is now likely to be struck off after being suspended by the General Medical Council.

Sheffield Crown Court heard the married father-of-two, who has a son at university and a daughter at a fee-paying school, probably altered the records to try to keep his career.

Police began investigating after Doncaster prisoner Gary Bell died on June 26, 2007 following complications with a perforated ulcer.

Khan, of Bessacarr, Doncaster had examined Mr Bell the morning before he died and detectives, who found inadequate medical notes, wanted to know if the examination had been competently performed.

The doctor, who is not implicated in Mr Bell's death, insisted he had carried out a thorough investigation but admitted his note-taking was not up to his usual standard.

He later persuaded junior staff to give him access to the medical records of three other inmates he had examined that day whose notes were also inadequate, the court heard.

Khan was seen on CCTV removing the files and he altered them at home to give the appearance he had thoroughly examined the prisoners.

In the case of an inmate referred only to as "F", the GP made up a new page by copying notes from a previous examination by another doctor, altering the date and making it appear as if he had examined the patient.

When quizzed by police, Khan said he could not remember changing the medical records.

He eventually admitted committing acts intended to pervert the course of justice between September 21 and 25, 2008.

Alan Jenkins, for Khan, said he had become the victim of a "whispering" campaign at the jail's medical centre after a nurse was also suspended and staff believed the GP had pointed the finger of blame at her.

He had been suffering from post-traumatic depression since he was attacked by an inmate in 2003.

He had taken to drinking up to a bottle of vodka a night in the six months before the criminal incident and had become unkempt and untidy as the drink took its toll.

Mr Justice Openshaw jailed Khan for four months.

He said it was a "deeply dishonest" manipulation of the records designed to mislead detectives investigating Mr Bell's death and he had undermined public confidence in the medical profession by deliberately lying.

Khan had claimed he changed the notes to prevent other staff altering the records to his detriment which the judge said was "deeply hypocritical" although he accepted there were tensions within the department.

A Doncaster Prison spokesman said: "Dr Khan held a position of trust, providing healthcare to prisoners in our care. He abused that trust and was excluded from the prison once this was discovered."

An inquest will be held into Mr Bell's death at a later date.