Hello Justice Kirby: Anybody Home?

By James Tozer/Mail Online

Australia’s Supreme Court judge Michael Kirby dabbles as a gay activist and sucks up to Muslims who enjoy his support. In an islamic country he would be killed. What makes these people tick? Ignorance, stupidity or delusion or all three?

A leading Muslim doctor called for gays to feel ‘the stick of the law’ to protect society from their ‘ravages’, a disciplinary hearing was told yesterday.

Dr Muhammad Siddiq, president of the Islamic Medical Association, wrote to a magazine for GPs accusing homosexuals of spreading disease with their ‘ irresponsible behaviour’, it was claimed.

The 65-year-old, who is currently suspended, faces being struck off after the General Medical Council called for him to explain the comments.

The letter to Pulse magazine, signed by Dr Siddiq and dated July 2, 2007, stated that ‘the gays are worse than the ordinary careless citizen, they are causing the spread of illness and they are the root cause of many sexually transmitted diseases’.

It added: ‘Gays and homosexuals, they neither need sympathy or help, what they need is the stick of the law to put them on the right path and mend their ways and behaviour.

Gay Pride march: Dr Muhammad Siddiq is accused of making homophobic remarks in a letter published in a magazine

‘We need to protect society from their ravages. They are preying on society.’

It also criticised transsexuals, referring to a depressed patient undergoing a sex change as ‘twisted’.

The letter sent by Dr Siddiq – who trained in Pakistan in the 1960s and worked at the Luqman Medical Centre in Walsall – provoked outrage when it was published, yesterday’s hearing was told.

Bernadette Baxter, counsel for the GMC, said that when Walsall Primary Care Trust contacted the doctor for an explanation, he insisted that the letter laid out his personal views and he had done nothing wrong.

But just days later, he wrote to the PCT to apologise, saying he had been under intense stress at the time.

He wrote: ‘I have thought long and hard about what has happened and I have had the opportunity to discuss it with my family.

‘I categorically and unreservedly apologise for the hurt and offence I may have caused to anyone who may have read my letter.

‘I have practised as a GP for more than 30 years and have never discriminated on any grounds. I would never refuse any treatment because of someone’s sexuality.

‘I just cannot understand how or why I could have said this in my letter.’

The letter concluded: ‘I know that all of the above does not excuse my letter or the things in it.’

Dr Siddiq promised to send a retraction to the magazine, but the fitness to practise hearing was told he gave a completely different explanation just a few days later, claiming his original draft letter had supported better treatment for gay patients.

His son, Khubaib, who typed the letter, had also added the inflammatory remarks as ‘a spoof’, Dr Siddiq said, expecting him to spot the changes and throw it away.

Khubaib told the hearing: ‘It was written and addressed and I expected my father to laugh and throw it away.’

Miss Baxter said Dr Saddiq then claimed he was ‘so busy and overworked, he didn’t read the letter, he simply signed it and sent it off without being aware of its contents’.

However, she told the panel: ‘The GMC’s case is that when Dr Siddiq realised his letter retracting his statement was not going to do the trick and bring an end to the matter, he strayed from the truth and set out a new explanation.

‘Within a matter of days, Dr Siddiq had changed his explanation for the letter saying that, far from him being the author, it was his son who had effectively written it as a spoof.’

Dr Siddiq is also facing disciplinary action for refusing to co-operate with the PCT over the death of a baby boy he had circumcised.

Although there was no direct link between the procedure and the baby’s death a month later, Dr Siddiq was ordered to stop carrying out minor surgery.

However, he refused, saying he planned to ignore their instruction, branding the findings ‘null and void’.

Dr Siddiq denies misconduct. The hearing in Manchester continues.