A Great Ormond Street consultant is facing a six-month suspension after he was caught fare dodging on his daily commute to the world-famous children’s hospital.
Dr James Ip, a specialist paediatric anaesthetist, was caught out by a Transport for London ticket inspector as he went through the barriers at Hammersmith station using his wife’s free travel pass.
When prosecuted for the incident, which happened on February 7 last year, Ip admitted fare-dodging another 54 times over the preceding three months, saying he had been driven by “anger” at having to pay to go to work during the pandemic.
He was sentenced to a £500 fine, £297 compensation for the unpaid train fares, and costs and court fees totalling £425, and has now been issued with a six-month suspension by his professional regulator at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal.
Explaining his law-breaking, Ip blamed the Covid pandemic for stoking a sense of unfairness and “resentful entitlement”.
“His original explanation for the offending was that he was angry that he had to pay and that he had to go into work whilst others were at home in lockdown and some in furlough”, the tribunal panel found.
The doctor admitted that just under half his journeys were to work at GOSH, while others were to private work and personal trips.
The panel concluded Ip “would have been under increased stress” during the pandemic as a medical professional, but his explanation “did not make sense” as the country was not in lockdown at the time of the fare-dodging he has admitted.
“The Tribunal considered that if Dr Ip’s offending had taken place in or around March 2020 or some months after that when frontline workers were exposed without a vaccine, his explanation for his offending may have carried more weight.”
The tribunal heard Ip’s wife has held a free travel pass for London for the last eight years, but the reason for her having it was redacted and part of the hearing was conducted in private.
In statements to the panel, Ip said he “only chose to use (the pass) during the lockdown”, and said the decision was fuelled by “a sense of angry, resentful entitlement, rather than financial greed or a desire to cheat the system”.
In a statement shortly after his conviction, Ip wrote that he had abused the pass “intermittently for my own travel to work at some point during the nationwide lockdown that began in March 2020 due to the Covid pandemic”.
“At that time there were no vaccines available”, he said.
“We were also understaffed at work, with many staff members off sick or isolating or redeployed to other areas.
“At the time, TfL was reimbursing the Congestion Charge for NHS workers and Camden Council had suspended onstreet parking charges also for NHS workers.
“I remember feeling a sense of unfairness that NHS workers using the underground had been overlooked in terms of these concessions.”
He added: “I see now that this rationalisation was illogical, immoral and wrong. I recognise that fare evasion is a form of theft and free loading from other passengers and there was no excuse for not paying for my tickets. I have since admitted my wrongdoing and apologised to Transport for London for my conduct.”
Ip, who gained his medical qualifications in 2004 and joined the famous children’s hospital in 2016, was not suspended following his conviction last summer at Lavender Hill magistrates court.
The tribunal imposed a six-month suspension after reaching a finding that Ip’s fitness to practise is impaired. The suspension will come into effect next month unless the consultant lodges an appeal.
