GOC suspends 'whiplash' optometrist

An optometrist convicted of conspiracy to defraud and perverting the course of justice has been suspended for a year by the General Optical Council.

Asif Akhtar, who faced a GOC fitness to practise committee last week, was questioned about an 'insurance fraud conspiracy' going back to 2006. According to the hearing, Akhtar presented a false account of whiplash injuries to promote a fabricated personal injury insurance claim five years ago.

He later gave statements to insurance investigators denying the accident had been fabricated, the GOC said, before providing driving documents at a police station.

Akhtar eventually pleaded guilty to charges at Manchester Crown Court in January 2009, and was handed a community sentence order 10 months later.