London pharmacist suspended after masturbating on Air India flight — then lying about conviction twice to keep his job

Published 15 October 2026, 15:44

• The General Pharmaceutical Council's Fitness to Practise Committee, chaired by Lubna Shuja, suspended Bhavikkumar Rajeshbhai Patel for six months.
• Caught by cabin crew mid-flight, Patel later claimed he 'had a slight itch in my private area.'
• Twice he falsely declared no criminal record on renewal forms — only confessing after a routine background check exposed him.

A London pharmacist has been suspended for six months after being convicted of masturbating in front of cabin crew and a passenger on an Air India flight — and then lying twice to his regulator to conceal the conviction.

The General Pharmaceutical Council's Fitness to Practise Committee found that Bhavikkumar Rajeshbhai Patel's fitness to practise was impaired by both his conviction and his subsequent misconduct.

The committee imposed a six-month suspension and granted an immediate interim suspension, finding that Patel "could not, at the moment, be completely trusted to comply with his regulatory obligations."

Patel, who registered as a pharmacist in the UK in December 2017 and worked at Pearl Chemist Ltd on Mitcham Road in Tooting, London, was travelling on Air India Flight AI171 from Ahmedabad, India to London Heathrow on 4 March 2023 when the incident occurred.

Cabin crew told police that Patel had been nervous and anxious before the flight and was not feeling well.

According to the police report summarised by a cabin crew member, "the defendant ordered a couple of alcoholic drinks which he consumed quickly and then his behaviour began to change."

About two and a half hours into the flight, a stewardess noticed Patel's call light was on.

She found him "sat in his seat with his fly open and his penis exposed out to the front. He had his right hand on his penis and he was playing with himself."

A second crew member and the male passenger seated next to Patel also witnessed the act and told him to stop.

He eventually complied and "tucked himself back into his trousers."

When the flight touched down at Heathrow, cabin crew held Patel at the rear of the aircraft, where he declared he was doing it "to serve the nation."

When asked in the custody suite whether he understood what he had been accused of — that he had been masturbating — he replied "it was my mistake" and apologised for upsetting people.

On 19 June 2023, following a guilty plea, Patel was convicted at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on two counts: being drunk on board Air India Flight AI171, contrary to the Air Navigation Order 2016, and outraging public decency at common law by masturbating in front of two cabin crew members and a passenger.

On 5 July 2023, he was sentenced to 100 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 25 days, and ordered to pay £900 in total compensation to three victims — £300 each — plus £85 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Giving evidence to the committee at the hearing, held remotely over three days from 14 to 16 September 2026, Patel said he had gone 13 years without drinking alcohol before the flight, had consumed "one shot" of vodka alongside a glass of orange juice, then fallen asleep and "didn't recall much."

Under cross-examination, he said he "had a slight itch in my private area" and suggested others may have misunderstood what he was doing.

The committee found this account difficult to accept, noting that three witnesses' accounts in the police report directly contradicted him.

Patel failed to notify the GPhC of his conviction within the required seven days.

When he renewed his registration on 1 October 2023, he answered "No" when asked whether he had ever been convicted of a criminal offence.

He did the same again on 8 October 2024.

He only disclosed the conviction in February 2025, after his employer at Pearl Chemist Ltd discovered it through a routine Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Explaining his repeated non-disclosure to the committee, Patel said: "I was in a half mind whether to disclose or not. I was confused and thought the matter had been resolved as I did my unpaid work and rehabilitation so maybe it was OK not to disclose."

He also admitted: "I didn't because my career means a lot to me. People will think I am not a good person, I was embarrassed to discuss and that was my main reason for not disclosing on two occasions."

The committee found that Patel accepted in evidence he would likely not have disclosed the conviction to the GPhC at all had the DBS check not forced the issue.

The committee found Patel had breached four of the Standards for Pharmacy Professionals (2017).

On Standard 8, the committee found he had "demonstrated no candour with his employer or regulator until January 2025" and that "the Registrant's behaviour demonstrated an attitude of believing that if he stayed silent and did nothing, eventually the conviction would disappear."

The committee rejected lesser sanctions in turn, finding a warning "would simply be insufficient to mark the seriousness of the conviction and misconduct."

The committee cited Bolton v The Law Society (1994), which held that "the reputation of the profession is more important than the fortunes of any individual member."

The committee rejected both the GPhC's suggested 12-month suspension and Patel's counsel's suggestion of three months, settling on six months on the basis that it "sends a clear message to the profession and wider public, whilst providing the Registrant with a clear route to remediate."

In mitigation, the committee noted Patel's previously unblemished career of nearly nine years as a UK pharmacist, his genuine remorse, his completion of the community order, his cessation of alcohol consumption, and the continued support of Pearl Chemist Ltd, which kept him in employment despite knowledge of the allegations.