A doctor and her husband have been jailed for 10 months each after admitting to selling personal protective equipment (PPE) stolen from NHS Scotland during the initial months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The couple, described as acting out of "sheer greed", profited by almost £8,000 from the illicit sales.
Attiya and Omer Sheikh pleaded guilty in May at Paisley Sheriff Court to resetting a quantity of PPE that belonged to NHS Scotland between May 30 and October 7, 2020. Court documents indicated the equipment had been "dishonestly appropriated" by unknown individuals.
Their 10-month sentences, handed down on Friday, were reduced from 12 months due to their early guilty pleas.
Sentencing the pair, Sheriff Sukhwinder Gill said the husband and wife both knew they were in possession of PPE that had been stolen from the NHS.
She said: “The offence happened between May and October 2020.
“That time period in my view was significant. This was a time when the world was in a heightened state of fear and anxiety at the start of the Covid pandemic. The NHS was facing an unprecedented crisis.
“There was an extreme shortage of PPE. As a doctor you clearly knew that PPE was essential for your colleagues and by extension their families.
“You chose to sell this PPE, which you knew was stolen for financial gain. It is hard to imagine a more egregious breach of trust, not only in respect of your colleagues but of society.”
She added: “You did this together out of sheer greed.”
Reset is the offence of handling stolen goods.
Prosecutors said that in July 2020 NHS Counter Fraud Services began an investigation into the potential theft and resale of PPE on eBay.
The investigation led to the identification of four separate eBay accounts which were connected to both accused.
Prosecutors said the couple made £7,827 selling PPE, including medical gloves and masks, on a number of eBay accounts.
Police and NHS Counter Fraud Service specialists searched the couple’s home in Thornliebank, East Renfrewshire, in October 2020 and found 121 boxes of PPE in an attic.
At the time of the offence, Attiya Sheikh, 46, worked as a doctor at University Hospital Hairmyres in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, but she has not worked for NHS Lanarkshire since 2020.
John Scullion KC, representing the doctor, said the offence has had a “very significant” impact on the mother-of-three, both professionally and personally.
He said she is now unemployed, having lost jobs as a locum doctor and in a role certifying drivers of HGV vehicles as a result of the court proceedings.
He told the court: “She accepts full responsibility for her actions and acknowledges the significant breach of trust the offence represents, and the potential impact of her actions both on her professional colleagues and on society more generally, and expresses remorse which appears to be both genuine and profound.
“She has dedicated her adult life to the study of medicine, working extremely hard to become a doctor and perhaps even harder completing relevant conversion courses allowing her to practice in the UK in order that she could make a positive contribution to society.
“Instead, because of her actions in 2020, she has now lived for almost five years with the shame of having betrayed the values which have otherwise guided her life.
“It’s fair to say that she bitterly regrets her actions.”
Advocate Kevin Henry, representing 48-year-old Omer Sheikh, said he accepts full responsibility for his actions.
He said: “He recognises that it was a big, big mistake on his part and understands the impact this offence will have had on frontline NHS workers at a time when PPE was at a premium.”
Omer Sheikh works front of house in his family restaurant, the court heard.
Both lawyers had urged Sheriff Gill to consider alternatives to custody such as community payback orders, but she said she was satisfied the offence passed the custody threshold.
A General Medical Council (GMC) spokesperson said: “Dr Attiya Sheikh is currently registered with a licence to practise but with interim conditions on her registration pending the conclusion of a GMC investigation.”
An interim orders tribunal of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service first imposed the interim restrictions on her practice on December 20, 2024.
Gordon Young, head of NHS Scotland Counter Fraud Services at NHS National Services Scotland, said: “This individual was aware that this personal protective equipment (PPE) had been unlawfully appropriated and as a clinician she would have understood the importance of PPE for NHS Scotland staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“NHS Scotland Counter Fraud Services led the investigation which secured this conviction, and our work included locating 121 boxes of gloves which had been intended to protect our frontline staff.
“This successful prosecution reaffirms NHS Scotland’s commitment to safeguarding vital resources for health service provision as intended by the taxpayer.”
