Vet jailed for fraud faces misconduct charges
Shamed vet David Smith is facing more charges, this time of “disgraceful” professional conduct.
Mr Smith is due to appear in front of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ disciplinary committee next Monday (19 February), in a hearing due to last until 23 March.
He will face a number of charges relating to his time in practice at Lakeview Veterinary Centre, Kent.
The first concerns Clydesdale mare Grace, whom he was called out to on 14 August 2014.
He is accused of failing to perform an adequate examination of the mare and/or “undertake sufficient investigation into her presentation and/or history”.
He is also charged with “failing to respond adequately to [her owner’s] telephone report/s that Grace had deteriorated and/or failed to improve”, after the initial visit to Grace, and on the same day.
He is accused of failing to “make any or any adequate” clinical records for the mare between the previous October and the day of the August visit, as well as failing to keep adequate records for a dog belonging to the same owner.
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Other charges relate to two cats and a dog and include accusations of diagnosing diabetes without the “minimum investigation required” and giving the animal’s owner insulin “without adequate instructions” on dosage.
“In relation to the above, whether individually or in any combination, you are guilty of disgraceful conduct in a professional respect”, states the final RCVS charge.
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The committee will also consider whether Mr Smith’s June 2016 conviction – he and two dealers were found guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud after they colluded to sell ill and/or dangerous horses – “renders him unfit to practise veterinary surgery”.
Mr Smith will be given a chance to submit pleas to the charges on the first morning of the hearing.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.