Manchester doctor suspended after being caught shoplifting multiple times

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A doctor who worked at a Manchester hospital has been suspended for a year after she was caught shoplifting and did not disclose all the records to the General Medical Council.

Sunita Sharma, who is a medical graduate from the state of Rajasthan in India, was caught attempting to steal a pair of jeans and sunglasses from Harvey Nichols’ Knightbridge store in London and a handbag from Harrods in 2008.

The security staff at Harvey Nichols found several security electronic tags left in the changing room after Sharma came out of the cubicle, trying to steal jeans and sunglasses. She had cut them off with a pair of scissors.

As a result of this, she was arrested by the staff at the store after they realised what she had done. The 30-year-old woman was then cautioned by the police.

Following her convictions for theft in a separate incident at the Lakeland store in Handforth, Cheshire in 2018, the General Medical Council was informed of similar incidents that continued to occur while she was working as a junior clinical fellow at Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Sharma pleaded not guilty to the charges of stealing a microwave jug, travel bags and other items from the store, but Stockport Magistrates Court in May 2019 found her guilty of theft and imposed a fine of £286.

According to Mail Online, Sharma was also ordered to reimburse Lakeland an amount of £104.18, which was the total cost of the items she stole.

A tribunal heard that Sharma had used a pair of scissors to “assist with removing tags from the items she had stolen”, and this was enough evidence against her as she went there ‘equipped for theft’. The tribunal ruled that the failure to report the police caution to the council amounted to “misconduct” and said that she would be suspended for 12 months which was “the appropriate and proportionate sanction in this case.”