Fausat Olanike Motunrola Azeez
Introduction
Fausat Olanike Motunrola Azeez is a dental nurse whom a GDC Professional Conduct Committee erased from the register in February 2023 after she was convicted of bringing banned articles into a prison on two occasions in 2020 and then gave the GDC a misleading account of her convictions. She was convicted at Norfolk Magistrates’ Court of conveying tobacco into a prison and at Norwich Crown Court of conveying cannabis into a prison — both offences committed on the same day in March 2020 — and later failed to disclose the full picture to her regulator .
Background Information
Azeez was working as a registered dental nurse when, on 9 March 2020, she committed two offences of bringing, throwing or otherwise conveying articles into a prison with the intention that they come into a prisoner’s possession. On 11 November 2020 she was convicted at Norfolk Magistrates’ Court of conveying a List ‘C’ article, namely 24.32g of tobacco. On 9 December 2020 she was convicted at Norwich Crown Court of conveying a List ‘A’ article, namely 13.18g of cannabis. She received a suspended custodial sentence rather than a community order .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
The GDC’s charges fell into two strands: the convictions themselves, and Azeez’s handling of her duty to report them. She did not tell the GDC she faced criminal proceedings until 25 May 2021 — some eight months after her first conviction — and when she finally did notify the regulator, her account was materially incomplete. She failed to mention that she had also been convicted of conveying cannabis into prison as well as the tobacco she disclosed, and she failed to disclose that she had been sentenced to a suspended custodial sentence rather than the community service order she described .
The committee found the heads of charge relating to the convictions proved on the basis of the certified convictions, and found the declaration-failure charges proved as misconduct, holding that Azeez’s incomplete and misleading account amounted to conduct that was dishonest. The panel had regard to the GDC’s Standards for the Dental Team, including the requirements to be honest and act with integrity and to inform the GDC immediately if subject to criminal proceedings anywhere in the world .
On sanction, the GDC’s counsel submitted that Azeez’s fitness to practise was impaired both by the misconduct findings and by the convictions, and that erasure was the appropriate outcome. The committee agreed, directing that her name be erased from the dental register. The hearing took place in February 2023; MedicWatch records the Professional Conduct Committee decision and its direction of erasure from the dental register on that basis .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The case drew no separate press coverage in the published record, but its regulatory consequences were complete: conviction findings, misconduct findings for the misleading declarations, and erasure. The committee had regard to the fact that Azeez had no prior fitness-to-practise history with the GDC, but concluded that convictions for conveying drugs and tobacco into prison — twice, on the same day — combined with a dishonest notification account, were incompatible with continued registration .
Current Status
Azeez was erased from the dental register, with the committee imposing an immediate suspension order on public-protection and public-interest grounds. Her registration was suspended from the date of deemed service, and unless she appealed, the erasure would be recorded in the register 28 days later; any appeal would have left the immediate suspension in force. MedicWatch’s determination page records the erasure outcome from the February 2023 hearing, and she is listed among dental professionals struck off in 2023 . No appeal outcome appears in the published record .
Impact on Their Career/Life
Two criminal convictions, a suspended custodial sentence and a finding of dishonesty toward her own regulator ended Azeez’s dental nursing registration. The committee treated the concealment of the cannabis conviction and the true sentence as seriously aggravating, since the GDC’s ability to assess her fitness depended on complete disclosure. The published determination records the immediate suspension as necessary to protect the public and the public interest .