Paedophile NHS consultant is struck off: Top doctor is branded a danger to patients after he secretly trawled the dark web for 'young incest' child porn before blaming his twisted behaviour on 'stress' from the pandemic

A top NHS consultant has been struck off and branded a danger to patients after he secretly trawled the dark web for 'young incest' child porn, before blaming his behaviour on stress from the Covid pandemic. 

Plastic surgeon Mansoor Khan, 55, was found with over 100 'abhorrent and perverted' images of children as young as five being sexually abused by paedophiles. 

Inquiries by the National Crime Agency revealed Khan, who specialised in cancer reconstruction surgery, had downloaded a secure 'TOR' browser which allowed him anonymous access to depraved sites.

Police traced him via a Snapchat account, where they found 140 web searches carried out including the terms 'Dark Porn', 'Little Orgies' and 'Young Incest', which were stored on his mobile phone and hard drive.

In all, 106 pornographic images were found, 31 of which were in the most serious A category which can involve animals.

Khan, who was working at Salisbury District Hospital and University Hospital Southampton, claimed he only trawled the dark web as he wanted to 'protect' his children from what they might find — and he even insisted he was doing his 'parental responsibility.'

When interviewed, he said perverts were sending him images whilst he was carrying out research 'out of curiosity' and said he had no intention of promoting, sharing or storing the images. 

He added: 'It was my stupidity in thinking I could go on to these chat rooms and just chat about things and be a victim of other people's stuff.'

Khan subsequently sought help from the child protection charity Lucy Faithfull Foundation but counsellors said he 'placed his behaviour within the context of the increased pressures resulting from the Covid pandemic.' 

At the Medical Practitioners Service, Khan was ordered to be erased from the doctor's register after a panel described his conduct as 'vile..' 

He refused to attend the Manchester hearing saying the result would be a 'foregone conclusion.'

In February last year Khan was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for two tears after he was convicted of three charges of making indecent photographs. He denied wrongdoing. 

He was also ordered to complete 60 days of Rehabilitation Activity, 150 hours unpaid work and was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and abide by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

Khan was said to be 'pillar of society' and coached a girls' rugby team but led a 'double life'. 

He used encrypted sites to message others, accessed the dark web anonymously and repeatedly accessed child pornography on his mobile phone.

Police said he had sourced images from Wickr Me, a private instant messaging application allowing the exchange of end-to-end encrypted and content-expiring messages, including photos, videos and files.

Khan had also used the TOR browser to search for drugs he was curious about but he then built a secure folder on his phone to store pornographic images. 

Police arrested him in August 2021 and his home was searched, along with his office at Salisbury District Hospital.

Images were mostly of boys aged between five and seven with prosecutors saying some were of 'the most revolting and abhorrent kind.'

For the General Medical Council, Lewis Kennedy said: 'Dr Khan's conduct was not an isolated incident but a course of conduct from December 2020 to August 2021.

'His conviction is regarded in society as morally unacceptable and Dr Khan has not provided any evidence of insight or remediation. 

'He continues to deny the allegation and suggested to the police in his initial interview that he was the real victim as he was sent unsolicited pictures of child abuse and he maintained this position at his trial. Dr Khan showed no remorse.'

MPTS chairman Mrs Ruth Curtis said: 'The Tribunal was of the opinion that this was a most shocking and vile offence which seriously undermines public confidence in the medical profession. 

'The public would find Dr Khan's actions repugnant and this is not how anyone in a position of trust and confidence should behave.

'The Tribunal was of the opinion that, Dr Khan portraying himself as a victim, clearly demonstrates his lack of insight. 

'Given Dr Khan's persistent denial of the offence, his lack of responsibility and ownership of his actions and his nonacceptance of how his behaviour causes harm to children, it would be extremely difficult for his behaviour to be remediated.

'Dr Khan has not accepted his actions, he has not provided any evidence to show he has addressed his rationale for his behaviour, and has not evidenced that he has put any mechanisms in place to prevent himself re-offending.

'Given Dr Khan's explanation that his actions resulted from stress due to the Covid pandemic, it could not be satisfied that if he was put in a further position of stress, he would not repeat the offence and the risk of repetition remains extremely high.'

She added: 'The Tribunal was of the opinion that Dr Khan was maintaining his alternative narrative in an attempt to protect his career and livelihood.. He should not practise again for public safety reasons.'

At the time of sentencing at Salisbury Crown Court Judge Adam Feest told Khan: 'In my view, the use of the dark web by you and the searches you were actively involved in, using particular search engines, coupled with the lack of insight that you display into your offending, mean that there is a realistic risk that you have a sexual interest in children which you have still not come to terms with.

'The description given to me today that although you accept your behaviour, you view your actions as recklessly putting yourself in harm's way, reinforces this view.'