Ms Rolfe, acting as counsel on behalf of the GMC, said that Dr Benn’s conduct had brought the profession into disrepute because she had broken the law by failing to comply with the injunction against protests at the Kingsbury oil terminal on multiple occasions.
She added that Dr Benn’s fitness to practise was impaired as her conduct failed to justify patients’ trust in the profession.
Ms Rolfe submitted that it was not the taking part in protests the GMC had issue with, but the risk to the public’s trust in and respect for doctors by seeing a doctor flouting the law and openly stating her intention to keep breaking the law.
She added that while Dr Benn had stated there may be members of the public who, both now and in the future, will agree with what she had done, there will also be groups of society, “that do not agree, do not understand, and can never understand”.
The tribunal said in its findings: “The public must be able to trust that doctors will always act within the law.”