Doctor and husband who pocketed almost £8k selling stolen NHS PPE during lockdown jailed
A doctor and her husband have today each been jailed for 10 months after selling stolen hospital Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on Ebay during the first covid lockdown.
Crooks Attiya Sheikh and husband Omer Sheikh generated almost £8,000 from selling PPE, that they knew had been pinched from the NHS, on four Ebay accounts between May and October 2020.
The crooks were this morning sentenced to 10 months in prison with Sheriff Sukhwinder Gill stating the offence "merits a custodial sentence".
Sheriff Gill slammed the couple and told them: "Mrs Sheikh, you are 46, a health professional and at the time were a doctor with the NHS.
"At this time, the NHS was facing an unprecedented crisis, there was an extreme shortage of PPE, not only in this country but globally.
"As a doctor, you clearly knew this PPE was required for your colleagues and the safety indeed of their families. You sold this stolen PPE for financial gain.
"Mr Sheikh, I don't differentiate between you and your wife. You done this together for sheer greed."
Paisley Sheriff Court heard 45-year-old Attiya Sheikh works as a doctor at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, while her 48-year-old husband works front-of-house at a family restaurant.
The town's court heard cops raided the Sheikh family home in Thornliebank in October 2020 but Mrs Sheikh wasn't home at the time. During the search 121 boxes of PPE, belonging to the NHS, were found in the couple's attic.
The procurator fiscal depute told he court: 'Officers searched the attic and found 121 boxes of blue medical gloves, facemasks and electronic equipment that included a silver iPhone.
'It was noted from the officers the gloves were from a supplier named Fannin Ltd. They are a care essential brand company that sold a brand of gloves to the NHS. Fannin UK Ltd make medical products and PPE.
'Because of what was found in the property, Mrs Sheikh, who wasn't at home at the time of the search, was contacted.
'At this point, she was eager to speak about what had been found and she was advised by an officer it wasn't appropriate to speak at that time and she would be contacted at a later date to do so.
'Later that day, Mrs Sheikh contacted the officer and the call was put on speaker.
'She started to discuss gloves that were found and, before proceeding, she was cautioned and proceeded to state that she had obtained the gloves from an individual from within Hairmyres Hospital and she had seen his NHS identification badge and that she had a suspicion she knew where the stock of gloves came from.'
The court heard Dr Sheikh was asked by officers for the name of the NHS worker she claimed had given her the gloves. The fiscal depute added: 'She provided the name Andrew Ferguson.
'Enquiries carried out concluded there was no Andrew Ferguson found to work at the hospital.
'Further investigations were carried out by officers and uncovered through Ebay accounts that, during May 30 to October 7, 2020, both accused had been selling PPE on Ebay to various individuals.
'The value generated from this was £7,857.'
Prior to the case calling for trial at Paisley Sheriff Court, both Attiya Sheikh and Omer Sheikh pleaded guilty to the reset of PPE that belonged to the NHS that had been 'dishonestly appropriated' by persons unknown to the prosecutor.
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