GP guilty of driving to work drunk

Westmeath: A Westmeath GP has been found guilty of professional misconduct at a Medical Council fitness-to-practise inquiry …

Westmeath:A Westmeath GP has been found guilty of professional misconduct at a Medical Council fitness-to-practise inquiry for being under the influence of alcohol on his way to work.

Sudan-trained Dr Zahir Mohamed (49) of Mullingar was banned from driving for four years at Athlone District Court last May for refusing to give a blood or urine sample at a Garda station after a car crash.

Dr Mohamed crashed his car on to an embankment of an M6 slipway at Kilbeggan on August 7th, 2011, as he drove to start an overnight shift in Tullamore for locum service Doctors on Duty.

The fitness-to-practise committee accepted evidence given by on-scene Garda Darren Murphy yesterday that he smelled alcohol on Dr Mohamed’s breath, that the doctor failed the roadside breathalyser test and that he noticed Dr Mohamed to be “unsteady on his feet”.

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The committee rejected evidence given by Dr Mohamed that he had not drunk alcohol that day.

Genevieve Carbery

Genevieve Carbery

Genevieve Carbery is Deputy Head of Audience at The Irish Times