NICHOLAS SPICER, NOW LIVING IN CRAVEN ARMS, SHROPSHIRE, INVOLVEMENT IN VIEWING CHILD SEX FANTASY STORIES

In April 2013, Nicholas Spicer, who now resides in Craven Arms, Shropshire, became publicly known following revelations about his past conduct. Previously, in February 2010, it was reported that Spicer, a 55-year-old general practitioner, had accessed and downloaded distressing child sex fantasy stories on his home computer during the years 2003 to 2007. At the time, he was employed at Nunwell surgery in Bromyard, Herefordshire, and worked closely with children, gaining a reputation as a trusted GP.

The General Medical Council (GMC) held a disciplinary hearing in Manchester where they described Spicer as “a sexual deviant with an interest in children.” Despite this harsh language, he was cleared of professional misconduct but was suspended from practicing medicine for six months on health grounds. The GMC also decided not to pursue criminal charges against him because the stories he viewed were legally available online. Child safety organizations and even Spicer’s own wife criticized the GMC’s decision, labeling it as “shameful” for not removing him from the medical register altogether.

Spicer remains unrepentant, claiming that his behavior stemmed from a “mild, well capsulated medical condition” he was experiencing at the time. In his words, “I have never been accused of being a paedophile, but it is obvious that people might wonder.” He elaborated that he underwent evaluations by seven experts in the field of child sex offenses, six of whom concluded he was not a paedophile or a threat to children. “They concluded that I was suffering from a mild, well capsulated medical condition, exacerbated by domestic problems I was having at the time,” he stated from his home in Hereford.

He explained that his domestic issues might have driven him to browse these legal texts online, saying, “We were having domestic problems; people can make of that what they will, but that is why I took to browsing these legal texts.” Spicer emphasized that the GMC found his viewing of the stories was not misconduct but that his overall fitness to practice was impaired due to health reasons, leading to his six-month suspension. “The GMC had no choice but to investigate me and I am happy with its decision,” he remarked.

The stories he accessed contained adult sexual abuse of children, involving disturbing themes of abuse perpetrated by adults. Spicer admitted that he downloaded these texts onto his personal computer, which he kept at home, and denied any misconduct during the official GMC proceedings. A panel of three professionals cleared him of the misconduct charge, and although he was removed from NHS Herefordshire’s GPs list, he was allowed to potentially return to medical practice elsewhere as soon as July.

During the Manchester hearing on January 15, GMC solicitor Jason Macadam referred to Spicer as “a sexual deviant” and described the material as “abhorrent and repugnant.” The GMC’s statement highlighted, “The panel found the material that you viewed to be abhorrent. Though consisting of text rather than images and, as such, products of imagination, the stories embody a perverse distortion in their portrayal of children and children with adults. It is shocking that such material was accessed regularly over a number of years by a medical practitioner. We wish to make this clear at the outset without reservation or qualification.”

West Mercia Police informed the GMC that while no criminal charges could be pursued because the material was legal, concerns about child protection remained. Spicer added, “I have been told by the GMC that I am a good and useful doctor with a 25-year unblemished record. What I did never had anything to do with patients or the practice, it occurred solely in the privacy of my home. I have kept silent for the last two years but I feel I owe it to my patients to say something. I do have regrets over what has happened and I am sorry.”

His wife, Patricia, has initiated divorce proceedings and criticized the GMC’s decision. “People and professionals that I have spoken to are mystified about the decision and cannot understand why they did not strike him off,” she said. “I think this decision undermines public trust in the GMC and doctors in general. The GMC’s mission statement is ‘protecting doctors, protecting people’ but they are not living up to it with this decision.”

Michael May from Survivors UK expressed his dismay, stating, “I’m appalled by both the actions of the GP and the response of the GMC. I find it extremely concerning that an educated professional, with intimate access to the most helpless and vulnerable members of our community, has been able to exploit a shameful loophole in the law. This is further evidence of the ongoing minimization of sexual abuse of children in our society. I call for the law to be changed to criminalize accessing and trading in these repugnant images and stories in any form.”