Dr. Adekunle Okunuga, 59, caned his son with a kitchen
brush for misbehaving at school and made him perform squat thrusts and stand on
one leg with his arms in the air while he kicked him, according to the Daily
Mail.
The boy named Child A - had been facing expulsion for
swearing and stamping on an injured girl during a PE lesson. Okunuga picked up
his son from school slapped and kicked him.
The consultant anesthetist destroyed Child A's games
consoles before caning the boy across his open palms with a walking stick. He
stopped when he became aware the boy had wounds on his hands that were
bleeding. The boy was treated in hospital for cuts and bruising and was later
taken temporarily into foster care.
Okunuga was arrested and convicted in September 2014 at
Leamington Spa magistrates court of ill-treating a child and was sentenced to
eight weeks in jail suspended for a year with a requirement to complete 160
hours of unpaid work after being found guilty of serious professional
misconduct by a disciplinary panel.
Earlier this month, the order was lifted and he was deemed
fit to practice medicine again after the doctor, who worked at University
Hospital Coventry, admitted his behaviour was 'excessive and uncalled for'.
He blamed his conduct on his 'cultural upbringing' in
Nigeria. 'My behaviour was born out of my cultural upbringing, I should have
known better and I take full responsibility for my actions. If I were to
witness a similar occurrence by one of my colleagues, I would be the first to
speak up and take action and report it to the appropriate authorities.'
He added: 'I have been working abroad but have always given
full disclosure of my sanction to all employers and the relevant medical
authorities.
In giving Okunuga the all-clear to return to medicine, MPTS
chairman Ms. Sharmistha Michaels said: 'Then tribunal noted that Child A was
returned to Dr. Okunuga four months after the incident, and a child protection
order placed on Dr. Okunuga was removed three months after this in January
2015.
'There has been no evidence of any repetition in the
six-and-a-half years since the incident. Dr. Okunuga has reflected on his
actions and developed significant insight into their impact since the hearing
in 2015. He has been open and honest about his actions and apologised fully and
sincerely.
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