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A consultant paediatric neurologist who was caught in a newspaper sting taking cocaine before going on call has been suspended from the medical register for four months.
The Mail on Sunday article in January 2015 included a videotape allegedly showing Colin Ferrie snorting cocaine and measuring out the "clubbers' drug" gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) with a male escort.
Ferrie, an authority on childhood epilepsy with an international reputation, was prosecuted for possession of cocaine. He admitted the offence, was given a conditional discharge for 12 months at Leeds magistrates' court, and lost his job at Leeds General Infirmary.
At a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing in Manchester, he admitted that he was uncontactable while on call for nearly two hours during the incident. He was telephoned four times but failed to answer his mobile phone.
Ferrie gave evidence by telephone to the tribunal, explaining that he feared attendance...