A Specsavers optometrist whispered ‘f*** the monarchy’ into a female colleague’s ear just days after Queen Elizabeth II died, a disciplinary hearing was told.
‘Creepy’ Adeel Iqbal was reported by his colleagues after he made a series of ‘wholly inappropriate’ comments while at work.
The student optometrist told one co-worker that one of his female patients was ‘horny’ and breached data protection requirements when he messaged a patient on various social media sites after obtaining her phone number.
Mr Iqbal sent the patient a video of Syrian men holding weapons and she was so frightened by the interaction that she installed CCTV outside her house and reported him to the police, a General Optical Council (GOC) hearing was told.
The GOC has suspended Mr Iqbal for nine months.
It was heard that Mr Iqbal was working as a student optometrist at Specsavers on the Isle of Wight, when he knelt down to a colleague and whispered ‘f*** the monarchy’ into her ear in September 2022.
It happened just days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8. Â
At the time, there were customers in the building and the female co-worker – referred to only as Ms 2 – felt ‘uncomfortable’ at how close Mr Iqbal had got to her.
Mr Iqbal whispered ‘f*** the monarchy’ just days after Queen Elizabeth II passed away
This female colleague also told the panel that during a shift in 2022, Mr Iqbal had told her ‘it’s getting heated in there’ before referring to a patient, and saying ‘she’s horny, I can tell’.
The staff member reported the matters at the work Christmas party and the panel heard she resigned after she felt here complaints were ‘not taken seriously’.
Mr Iqbal denied both comments.
The panel heard that on another shift in October 2022, he breached data protection requirements and obtained the mobile number of a young patient’s mother.
The woman – referred to as Ms B – had attended the Practice with her daughter to collect glasses.
She told the hearing that Mr Iqbal proceeded to message her personal number and on WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat, about matters which were ‘unrelated to optical services’.
Among some of the messages, the GOC said he sent her ‘multiple videos and images of footages from Syria of men wearing army uniforms holding weapons’.
He also sent her messages relating to ‘financial trades’ and asked her ‘numerous questions about her personal life’.
The optometrist referred to Ms B ‘ghosting’ him and ‘airing’ him, as well as blocking him on social media platforms.
Mr Iqbal admitted messaging Ms B.
During the hearing, he accepted that the videos sent to Ms B would cause her to be both ‘scared and anxious’ and said he’d never engage in any form of patient contact outside of work again.
Mr Iqbal was working at Specsavers in Newport, Isle of Wight, when the incidents took place
The panel was told that in December 2022, a female colleague of Mr Iqbal’s – referred to only as Ms 1 – complained that she was suffering a headache.
It was heard that after the comment, Mr Iqbal brought her paracetamol pills and a bar of chocolate saying ‘this is for you’, before either touching or rubbing her shoulder.
The female colleague said this made her feel ‘uncomfortable’ and she told the hearing she ‘did not appreciate this’.
She felt the behaviour was ‘creepy’ and ‘sleazy’, it was heard.
Mr Iqbal told the panel that he brought her paracetamol and chocolate as a ‘gesture of goodwill’.
His lawyer told the hearing that his behaviour was ‘not serious professional misconduct’ and were instead ‘thoughtless and stemmed from a desire to make friends with colleagues’.
Concluding the hearing, the panel said that while the ‘horny’ and ‘f*** the monarchy’ comments were ‘ill-judged and unwise’ – they did not amount to serious misconduct.
The panel ruled the same for the paracetamol gift, and another allegation relating to him poking a male colleague.
On the data breach allegation, the committee said Mr Iqbal sent Ms B ‘unsolicited and highly inappropriate messages’ which had a ‘significant impact’ on the woman.
The panel ruled that the breach of data protection did amount to serious misconduct
The GOC said his behaviour was both ‘unprofessional’ and ‘inappropriate’ as he ‘failed to maintain appropriate boundaries’ and engaged in conduct which was ‘not suitable in a student optician-client relationship’.
‘She described “freaking out” and being scared of repercussions, and she felt it serious enough to report the matter to [Mr Iqbal’s] employer and the police,’ they said.
They found this matter – which also saw Ms B install CCTV at her address – amounted to serious misconduct.
The optometrist has now been suspended.
‘The Committee therefore found the most appropriate sanction, to ensure public confidence in the profession and to uphold proper standards, but also to allow [Mr Iqbal] to further develop his insight and to continue to become a valued member of the profession would be one of 9 months,’ the panel said.