An NHS doctor who was suspended from her profession for taking part in climate protests with Just Stop Oil eco-fanatics has today lost her appeal against the ruling.
Dr. Sarah Benn was handed a five-month ban by the General Medical Council (GMC) after the watchdog found her activism had affected her fitness to practice.
The 'beloved' family GP was jailed for 32 days in 2022 for breaching a court order when she took part in a protest outside the Kingsbury Oil Terminal in Warwickshire.
She was criticized when her suspension order was issued in April last year for 'failing to acknowledge that what she did was wrong'.
Now Dr Benn has failed in her High Court appeal against the ruling, with a judge today dismissing her challenge.
Dr. Benn had taken part in a number of Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil protests, starting in October 2019, and has taken part in a series of demonstrations outside the Kingsbury Oil Terminal, in Warwickshire, from 2022 onwards.
A Supreme Court order had banned such protests and she was arrested several times for 'intentional violation of the order'.
She was ultimately sentenced to 32 days in prison in September 2022, but despite spending time behind bars, she vowed to continue her activism.
Dr. Sarah Benn is photographed here taking part in a climate protest outside the Kingsbury Oil Terminal in Warwickshire
Dr. Benn arriving at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester – April 2024
The GMC, the watchdog that oversees the fitness of doctors in Britain, subsequently found her guilty of misconduct and ruled that her fitness to practice had been affected because of her climate activism.
Dr. Benn, from Birmingham, West Midlands, claimed her actions were part of a doctor's 'fundamental duty to protect health and life'.
But last year she was given a five-month suspension from the medical register in April.
She subsequently appealed this ruling to the High Court, relying as part of her evidence on a survey signed by more than a thousand doctors and other healthcare professionals.
It found that '95% of participants felt that Dr Benn's actions did not undermine public confidence in doctors and 96% disagreed with the conclusion that her fitness to practice had been affected'.
But Ms Justice Yip, who ruled on the case, today rejected the doctor's challenge and said the GMC panel was not wrong in ruling that Dr. Benn's continued commitment to potentially illegal climate protest amounted to misconduct.
The judge said the GMC panel's conclusion that it found Dr Benn's “stated intention to continue acting outside the law as incompatible with her status as a member of the profession” could not be legitimately challenged.
In her ruling, the judge said: 'Upholding the rule of law is essential to maintaining the fabric of society and doctors have a role to play in that process. The public must be able to trust that doctors will always act within the law.'
Dr. Benn was suspended from the medical register for five months after serving 32 days in prison after taking part in a Just Stop Oil protest
Dr. Benn, from Birmingham, says she informed the General Medical Council and her employer after each arrest and has argued her actions were in line with medical ethics
The judge then said the misconduct and sanctions ruling could not be challenged, concluding: “The finding that Dr. , but also took into account Dr. Benn's expressed intention to continue behaving in the same way.
'In my view, it is not wrong to regard Dr Benn's conduct in repeatedly violating the ban – insofar as she was imprisoned – and her stated intention to continue acting outside the law as incompatible with her status as a member of the profession. , whatever her motivation for doing so.
“The simple fact is that Dr. Benn believes it is appropriate to continue taking action that is unlawful to draw attention to her very real concerns about climate change. She minimizes the impact of her actions on public resources.
“It was reasonable to give Dr. Benn an opportunity to consider the impact of her stated intention to continue her misconduct on her status as a medical professional.
“Accordingly, I agree with the tribunal's decision.”
Dr. Benn retired from active clinical practice in 2022, but remains on the medical register.
