‘Quite psychopathic’: DV dentist barred from profession for life

A Queensland dentist has been barred from his profession for life with a tribunal finding it was the only way to ensure public safety.

A Queensland dentist has been banned from practising.

A Queensland dentist jailed for serious domestic violence offences has been barred from his profession for life with a tribunal finding it was the only way to ensure public safety.

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal said a description of the man’s behaviour from his victim implied “a man quite psychopathic (who) is a risk of significant further violence”.

The dentist, who cannot be identified, was jailed for seven years in 2021 for “appalling” acts of domestic violence against a romantic partner.

A psychiatrist who assessed him around the time of his sentence believed that he suffered from narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and that he took little responsibility for the offending, demonstrated no insight, and did not seek help.

In a decision published on Thursday, the tribunal noted the dentist had lied by denying committing acts of physical violence against his former partner, even after pleading guilty to the charges.

“Considering rehabilitation is difficult when the respondent denies the allegations and takes relatively little responsibility for his actions,” the tribunal wrote.

“Successful rehabilitation requires admission of failings which is a capacity that those with NPD at their core lack.”

Following the dentist’s criminal convictions, the Health Ombudsman referred the matter to QCAT seeking disciplinary orders and findings.

“Professional persons who might engage in extreme and protracted violence and then refuse to address the issue causing their misconduct, bring discredit not only on themselves but on the professional body which might admit them to practice and so diminishes the standing of that body in the eyes of the public,” the tribunal wrote.

“Whilst acknowledging that these proceedings are protective and not punitive, in my view it is only in that way that the paramountcy of the health and safety of the public can be properly protected.”

The tribunal ruled the man had engaged in professional misconduct, cancelled his registration and barred him from reapplying to the profession indefinitely.

“ … in the particular circumstances of this case, the respondent’s character principally the underlying NPD, the abuse of his domestic partner, and his refusal to seek treatment means that he is so indelibly marked by his misconduct that he cannot be regarded as a fit and proper person to be registered as a dentist,” the decision said.

“To allow him the opportunity to do so would, in my view, diminish public confidence in the profession.”

Originally published as ‘Quite psychopathic’: DV dentist barred from profession for life