30 June 2023, Mumbai: A 44-year-old hospital worker, Salman Siddiqi, has been arrested and subsequently sentenced to two years and four months in prison after arranging to meet a 14-year-old boy, who turned out to be an undercover officer, on the premises of the Kent hospital where he was employed. The East Kent NHS Hospitals Trust has acknowledged “missed opportunities” in preventing the incident. Prior to the planned meeting, Siddiqi had sent explicit images of himself, engaging in conversations that were explicitly sexual and expressed his desires to abuse a child. Siddiqi, who had previously received a caution for indecent exposure, initiated contact with the underage individual through a fictitious online account. Kent Police arrested him at the meeting location, the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate.
At the Folkestone Magistrates Court the day following his arrest, Siddiqi pleaded guilty to two charges: attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child for a sexual offense. The court subsequently sentenced him to a prison term of two years and four months. Additionally, Siddiqi has been subjected to a sexual harm prevention order and has been added to the sex offenders register.
Rebecca Martin, the chief medical officer at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, confirmed that Siddiqi was promptly reported to the General Medical Council following the incident. She stated that their internal review did not reveal any direct patient involvement or process failures that could have prevented this criminal offense. However, the trust acknowledged missed opportunities to identify Siddiqi’s previous caution for indecent exposure. In response, the trust has implemented measures to prevent such oversights from occurring in the future.
An NHS spokesperson confirmed that the “previous caution” mentioned in the article was related to Siddiqi’s arrest for indecent exposure in a London park in June 2019. The spokesperson emphasized the seriousness of the matter and reiterated the commitment of the NHS in safeguarding the well-being and safety of patients.
Article by PRITESH PATEL