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A pharmacist who pleaded guilty to possessing photographs depicting the sexual exploitation of children has been struck off by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

Nathan Watson was convicted on January 27 this year at Yeovil Magistrates’ Court on five charges relating to the images, which he held on devices over a seven-year period and also included eight extreme pornographic images depicting sexual acts with a dog.

The 303 images found in his home included categories A, B and C images depicting the real abuse of children.

Mr Watson, who was previously principal pharmacist at Dorchester Hospital in Dorset, was visited by police at his home on June 13, 2023 after his IP address came to the attention of police investigating the accessing of online child sex abuse material.

A number of devices were seized which were found to contain images contrary to the Protection of Children Act 1978, the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 and the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.

He immediately told police visiting his home that he had searched for indecent images of children and that such image would be found on his electronic devices.

Following a delay in police investigating the data from his devices, he pleaded guilty to all charges at the earliest opportunity on January 27, 2026.

On February 27, he was sentenced to an 18-month community order, 150 hours’ unpaid work and 35 days’ rehabilitation activity.

He was suspended by his employer and has since found work outside the pharmacy profession.

Mr Watson is subject to notification requirements for five years and an eight-year sexual harm prevention order that includes a requirement to notify his offender manager of any use of devices capable of accessing the internet.

At the February sentencing at Taunton Crown Court, Recorder Suzanne Chalmers told Mr Watson he had “clearly done a lot of work over the last few years” to understand the seriousness of his actions and recognise that there are “real victims of these offences who, of course, are being hurt by what is happening”.

The recorder said the period over which he collected the images “is longer than is sometimes seen” and that the number of images and their nature was also “more serious than would sometimes be the case,” telling him that the starting point for sentencing in relation to a Category A images conviction was one year’s custody.

A number of mitigating factors were identified, such as his acknowledging “at the very beginning” when officers entered his home that they would find illegal material, and the fact he has attended support groups to prevent a repetition of this behaviour.

“I am satisfied that in this case this is one of those cases where there is a good prospect that you will be rehabilitated,” said the recorder.

In a written statement that Mr Watson read out to the FtP committee during his October 29-30 videolink hearing, he apologised to the pharmacy profession for his actions.

He said: “I am here to take responsibility for what I have done, acknowledge the harm I have caused and accept the consequences. I accept full responsibility for all the offences for which I was convicted.

“What I did was wrong. My offending formed part of a longstanding pattern of compulsive pornography use that became indiscriminate and extended to illegal material. I used pornography to escape difficult emotions and stress.

“I allowed myself to treat what I was doing online as separate from the rest of my life and disconnected from any real harm. Those beliefs enabled my behaviour to continue.

“I now recognise the wider harm caused by my pornography use, and in particular the harm to children. The children depicted in the abuse material were real children being abused and exploited. By accessing that material, I contributed to the demand for it and to the continuing harm of those children. I am deeply sorry for my part in that harm.”

Mr Watson said he has “undertaken specialist work” with a psychotherapist and completed a programme with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which works with sex offenders. He has also attended Sex Addicts Anonymous.

He acknowledged that removal from the register was “the likely outcome” from his fitness to practise hearing and said he did not oppose this, adding: “I am committed to maintaining my abstinence and accountability after this hearing, regardless of its outcome.”

The FtP committee took its lead from the sentence handed down at the Crown Court, in particular the fact that the sexual harm prevention order will remain in place for eight years.

Mr Watson’s conviction for making and possessing indecent images of children “presents an actual risk of harm to patients and the public,” adding that the public “would be appalled” to learn a registered pharmacist had engaged in this behaviour.

Concluding that removal from the register was the only available sanction, the committee stated: “Although the Registrant has made significant efforts to remediate, any lesser sanction would fail to protect the public, maintain public confidence in the profession and uphold proper standards.

“The registrant will not be able to fully remediate until the end of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order in February 2034.”

It imposed an interim suspension order barring him from practising as a pharmacist during the 28-day appeal period.

Related: Pharmacist struck off after conviction for distributing indecent images