Glen J Winter-Nolan

Introduction

Glen J Winter-Nolan is a former occupational therapist who was struck off the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register in August 2026 after a Conduct and Competence Committee panel found his fitness to practise impaired by both conviction and misconduct. Winter-Nolan was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court on 11 November 2024 of two offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was also found to have failed to inform the HCPC promptly that he had been charged with those offences, and to have acted dishonestly in doing so. He did not attend or respond to his final hearing, and the panel concluded that any sanction short of striking off would be insufficient to protect the public or confidence in the profession and its regulator.

Background Information

Winter-Nolan was registered with the HCPC as an occupational therapist, a regulated profession whose practitioners help people with illness, injury or disability manage everyday activities, often with vulnerable patients in the NHS and social care. The criminal case against him was heard at Woolwich Crown Court, where on 11 November 2024 he was convicted of two offences of assault a person thereby occasioning them actual bodily harm, contrary to the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. An interim order had already been imposed on him by the HCPC in January 2025, restricting his practice while the investigation and case management ran their course. His final hearing was scheduled for August 2026; it had earlier been adjourned in May 2026 when the allegations were amended to add the dishonesty particular.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated: convicted, then struck off. The convictions at Woolwich Crown Court on 11 November 2024 are matters of criminal court record. The impairment findings and striking off order of August 2026 are the HCPC’s separate regulatory determinations on the civil standard.

The HCPC’s allegation had five particulars: the two convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm; a failure to inform the HCPC as soon as possible that he had been charged with those offences; a claim that that failure was dishonest; misconduct flowing from those matters; and impairment by reason of conviction and misconduct. By the time of the final hearing, Winter-Nolan had completely disengaged. The last communication the regulator had received from him was in July 2025, more than a year before the hearing, and he made no response to the notice of hearing issued on 9 June 2026. The HCPC applied for the hearing to proceed in his absence, arguing that the allegations were of considerable age, that no indication existed that he would attend a future adjourned hearing, and that the public interest required the case to move. The panel, accepting legal advice and the practice note on proceeding in absence, found service good and proceeded. The hearing had already been adjourned once, in May 2026, specifically so he could consider the added dishonesty allegation; he made no contact after that adjournment either. The panel found the particulars proved, including the dishonesty finding, and found his fitness to practise impaired by reason of conviction and misconduct.

Public Reaction and Consequences

On sanction, the panel worked through the HCPC’s sanctions guidance, which reserves striking off for the most serious cases, and concluded that “the nature and gravity of the concerns were such that any lesser sanction than a Strike-Off would be insufficient to protect the public, public confidence in the profession, and public confidence in the regulatory process.” It weighed the principle of proportionality and acknowledged that a striking off order has a significant impact on a registrant, but was satisfied that the ongoing risk of repetition and his apparent unwillingness to resolve matters meant the public protection and public interest concerns outweighed his interests. The Registrar was directed to strike his name from the register. An interim order, in place since January 2025, continued to restrict his practice across the decision and any appeal window.

Current Status

Winter-Nolan was struck off on 26 August 2026, the final day of the three-day hearing held virtually. He has been out of communication with his regulator since July 2025, and the published decision records no mitigation, no insight and no steps toward remediation on his part. He is no longer a registered occupational therapist and cannot practise under the protected title while the striking off order stands. The convictions themselves remain matters of the criminal record at Woolwich Crown Court, and the people he assaulted are not named in the published regulatory decision. No public statement from Winter-Nolan is recorded in the HCPC materials covering this case.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The striking off order closes his occupational therapy career while the order stands, and the dishonesty finding complicates any future restoration application: regulators treat concealment of charges from the register’s custodian as a distinct integrity failure, separate from the underlying violence. The case is also a study in how complete disengagement is treated: rather than stalling the process, his silence let the panel proceed in absence, find the dishonesty particular proved, and treat unwillingness to resolve matters as an aggravating factor justifying the terminal sanction. For the regulator, the case sits alongside other 2026 striking-offs involving registrants convicted of violence against partners or family, reinforcing the HCPC’s position that convictions for physical violence are incompatible with registration in professions built on trust with vulnerable people.

Sources

• HCPTS, “Glen J Winter-Nolan — Final Hearing, Conduct and Competence Committee, Struck off,” August 2026. source