By Marjory Inglis

A DUNDEE doctor who was allowed to continue working after he admitted downloading pornographic images of children has been suspended.

The General Medical Council’s decision to suspend Craig Crawford Gordon Morton (24), of Broughty Ferry, was made public yesterday. The suspension until June 2006 follows a meeting of its interim orders committee which considered the case three weeks ago.

No details of the allegations against him were made public and the BMC stressed a suspension is not a finding of guilt but a means of protecting the public and the doctor until the case is reviewed or comes before the GMC’s fitness to practice panel.

There was a public outcry when Sheriff Derek Pyle admonished Morton in August following criminal proceedings in Dundee Sheriff Court.

Morton had previously admitted that between June 1, 1999, and December 4, 2002, at a house in Broughty Ferry, he took or permitted to be taken or made indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children.

When he appeared for sentence his solicitor John Kerrigan said it was Morton’s position that the images were downloaded in 1999 when he was a student aged 19. The individuals shown were between 14 and 16 and no younger.

The agent said he felt this distinguished the case from others where much younger children were shown. It was a 19-year-old young man looking at images of boys aged from 14 to 16.

He said Morton at the time “was confused about his sexuality and these images were viewed as a matter of curiosity.”

The sheriff said he had a letter of reference from a consultant in geriatric medicine indicating Morton was open about the charges and was a good doctor. His career path was in geriatrics, not paediatrics.

An NHS Tayside spokesperson confirmed Morton had left that organisation’s employment in August 2003 but it is believed he subsequently worked as an agency doctor.