Perverted Portsmouth vet struck off for downloading “extremely disturbing” child abuse images is reinstated in “reprehensible” move

Simon Wood had been working at Harbour Veterinary Hospital in London Road, North End, when the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ (RCVS) disciplinary committee ruled his actions were “fundamentally incompatible with being a veterinary surgeon” in June 2018.

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A published record of the disciplinary proceedings, following his sentencing in January of 2018, said he admitted downloading 50 images between September 25, 2016, and May 12, 2017.

The “excellent practitioner”, aged 27 at the time of his sentencing, was struggling with mental health throughout his life and looked at images as a form of self-harm, the report said. It added the images “contained extremely disturbing and seriously abusive images of children”.

Some children were as young as three, with age ranges from three to six, and four to 13. Mr Wood accepted being “unfit to practise” following the convictions for 38 videos and 13 still images, the report added. The majority were category A, the worst kind. He admitted three counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

At Portsmouth Crown Court Mr Wood was given a three-year community order and a five-year sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register. He was fined £1,000 with £340 costs and £85 surcharge and must complete 20 rehabilitation activity days.

Now Wood, previously of North Street, Emsworth, has been reinstated by the RCVS having been rejected in 2020 by a disciplinary panel following an application.

The panel was told by Mr Wood’s legal counsel that he was professionally competent to be restored and had demonstrated profound remorse and posed a low risk of re-offending. He had proactively engaged with the probation service and voluntary counselling to gain further insight into his offending and had completed his community sentence. He was no longer subject to any of the court orders arising from his conviction, it was also heard.

Following the hearing, it was agreed for Mr Wood to be restored to the RCVS register as a vet. Dr Kathryn Peaty MRCVS, chair of the panel, said: “The committee is satisfied that Mr Wood has done everything required of him in order to be able to satisfy the committee that he is fit to be restored to the register.

“At the last application in June 2020, he was unsuccessful largely because of the outstanding ancillary court orders that did not conclude until early 2023. Those orders have now concluded.

“He has shown significant insight into his offending behaviour. He has been proactive in his rehabilitation and taken significant steps to ensure there would be no repetition.

“He has a small, but strong, network of people around him who appear to genuinely care about him and support him. He has worked hard at maintaining his skills and knowledge, in so far as he has been able to in light of not being able to practise as a veterinary surgeon.

“He is thoughtful and realistic about his prospects going forward. His responses to questions about addiction were appropriate and persuasive. He has expressed genuine remorse and there is, in the committee’s view, a public interest in allowing him to be restored to the register.”

But some vets have expressed their unhappiness at the decision. One surgeon, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of being reprimanded by the RCVS for expressing an opinion, said of Mr Wood’s restoration: “I’m a veterinary surgeon and utterly ashamed to say that my regulatory body has reinstated this convicted paedophile on our register. It's reprehensible and the college has even said it’s ‘in the public interest’ for him to be restored. Unfathomable.”