Ovais Badat

Ovais Badat, a 42-year-old consultant psychiatrist based in Hengrove and employed by the Avon and Wiltshire Partnership NHS Trust's adult ADHD service, has been further imprisoned for possessing child abuse images. Badat, residing on Hopewell Street in Tetbury, was already serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence imposed in October 2017 for supplying cocaine, fraudulently making false prescriptions, fraud, and possessing the Class B drug ketamine. The new conviction stems from discoveries made during a police search of his home, where forensic examination of his electronic devices revealed a stash of prohibited material depicting the sexual abuse of children.

The offences occurred between January 2012 and March 2015. Badat faced seven counts of making indecent images of children, including five Category A videos and two still photos representing the most serious level of abuse, one Category B video, and one Category C image. He pleaded not guilty and stood trial at Bristol Crown Court, where prosecutors, led by Kerry Barker, presented evidence from an iMac computer and hard drive seized from his home. The devices also contained backups for Badat's and his partner's iPhones and iPad, but his partner confirmed to police that she had never accessed any child abuse material.

Investigators established that Badat had purchased the iMac and an iPad from eBay sellers who provided factory resets, and he had bought a new hard drive. During his police interview, Badat denied any wrongdoing, claiming the devices were second-hand, stored in a spare room accessible to others, and not password-protected. However, prosecution evidence, including specific search terms on the devices, convinced the jury of his responsibility for downloading the material. Badat was found guilty on all counts following the trial's conclusion.

• Badat's prior convictions: Supplying cocaine, making articles for use in frauds, fraud, and possessing ketamine, for which he received 2.5 years' imprisonment in October 2017.
• New charges: Seven counts of making indecent images of children (Categories A, B, and C), spanning 2012-2015.
• Sentence for new offences: 10 months for the first count (consecutive to existing term), with 10 months each for the remaining counts running concurrently.

DCI Simon Brickwood of Avon and Somerset Police commented: “A 42-year-old man has been convicted of downloading indecent images and videos of children following a trial at Bristol Crown Court. Ovais Badat... was found to have images and videos assessed to be category A – the most serious category.” He emphasised the abhorrent nature of the offence, noting that every image represents further abuse of a vulnerable child, and affirmed the police's commitment to identifying and prosecuting such offenders. The case was reported by Bristol Live on 9 July 2018, with court reporting by Geoffrey Bennett.