London: A renowned Indian-origin psychiatrist was today suspended for three months in Britain after he was found guilty of plagiarising other's material in his writings and bringing the profession into disrepute.

After a four-day hearing in Manchester, a General Medical Council (GMC) panel found Rajendra Dhwarke Persaud, 45,guilty of serious misconduct that had fallen below the standards of a doctor.

Delivering the verdict the panel said "your fitness to practise is impaired by reason of your misconduct".

"The Panel has determined that a three month period of suspension is sufficient to send out a signal to you, the profession and the public that plagiarism is unacceptable behaviour".

The panel said Persaud's conduct had fallen below the standards of behaviour that the public is entitled to expect from doctors and undermines public confidence in the profession.

"The Panel has determined that your dishonest conduct in plagiarising other people's work on multiple occasions represents a serious breach of the principles that are central to good medical practice. The Panel is in no doubt that this amounts to misconduct which is serious".

Persaud is a former presenter of BBC Radio 4's All In The Mind, and appeared regularly on the television chat show This Morning .

During the hearing, the Persaud admitted plagiarising four research papers for his 2003 book from The Edge of the Couch .

He also admitted copying the work of two foreign academics for five articles he wrote for publications including the British Medical Journal and The Independent .

Source : PTI