GOC suspends Newport DO 

Newport-based dispensing optician Gareth Harris has been suspended from the GOC’s register for six months after a committee found his fitness to practise impaired by reason of his conviction. 

Harris self-declared his conviction, for driving after consuming cocaine and found to be in excess of the legal limit, when completing his GOC registration annual retention form in March 2023.

The committee considered that the registrant had shown remorse, fully engaged with the investigation, had no previous fitness to practise history, there was no evidence of repetition and it was an isolated incident.

It determined that the suspension sufficiently reflected the seriousness of the conviction, redressed public confidence and sent out a message to the registrant, colleagues and wider public that professional standards must be upheld.