Dr Thair Altaii jailed over privacy violations

Dr Thair Altaii received a prison sentence after he was caught filming female patients whilst they were being examined, and he stored images and videos on his personal laptop.

This behaviour is a violation of human rights, medical confidentiality, and data protection laws; notwithstanding the fact that it is simply immoral and wrong. Victims should be able to put their trust in medical experts to not violate their privacy and patient confidentiality, and this has been severely broken in this case.

We understand the impact that breaches like this can have on patients and their lives and we want to help victims fight for the justice they deserve for this privacy violation. Contact our expert legal team today for free no-obligation advice if you were a victim of the Dr Thair Altaii data breaches.

Dr Thair Altaii misconduct case

Dr Thair Altaii was reportedly found to have filmed and stored 19,000 videos and images of female patients taken whilst performing examinations. The breaches were discovered after a patient informed the police about her suspicions of being filmed in the examination room by Dr Thair Altaii. She reported that there were two mobile phones that appeared to be facing the two examination areas as Altaii examined her. After noting that there appeared to be two, she became extremely uncomfortable and notified the police.

Dr Thair Altaii was reportedly first taken to trial in 2014 where he claimed the videos were for training purposes. The police searched Altaii’s home and confiscated his personal laptop where they found 19,000 images and videos of female patients. The images and videos were described as ‘some clothed and others in various stages of undress’ which were ‘apparently taken in the surgery environment’.

Altaii’s denial

Dr Thair Altaii went to trial in 2014 and made a statement accepting that he recorded nine medical consultations without the permission of the patients. He excused his behaviour, saying that he made the recordings for ‘self-assessment of his consultation skills and examination technique.’

He also stated that the still images were ‘automatically produced’ when he paused the video recordings and were taken for training reasons. Altaii denied any of the images or videos were taken or used for sexual gratification.

Dr Thair Altaii denied three offences of voyeurism in relation to two women between 2008 and 2014 but, four years later, he was reportedly convicted by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court in July 2018. He was then sentenced to 14 months in jail and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

He also faced misconduct proceedings with the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS). They assessed Altaii’s fitness to practice and determined that his name should be erased from the medical register with immediate effect.

Make a data breach compensation claim

If you have been a victim of Dr Thair Altaii, you could be eligible to make a compensation claim today on a No Win, No Fee basis.

Speak to our team of expert lawyers today for free, no-obligation advice about your experience and we can normally tell you in minutes if you have a claim to make.