By STEVE DOUGHTY and JAYA NARAIN
A muslim dentist made a woman wear Islamic dress as the price of
accepting her as an NHS patient, it is alleged.
Omer Butt is said to have told the patient that unless she wore a
headscarf she would have to find another practice.
Later this month, Mr Butt will appear before a General Dental Council
professional misconduct hearing, which has the power to strike him off.
It is claimed that the 31-year-old dentist asked to speak to the woman
in private after she turned up for an appointment at his clinic in
Bury.
According to the charges, he questioned her on whether she was a Muslim
and told her that if he was to treat her she would have to wear Islamic
dress.
He is also said to have read out a number of religious rules to her.
He then told his nurse to give the patient her own headscarf to wear,
the accusation says.
It is not known whether the woman was a Muslim.
The charges to be heard by the General Dental Council say that Mr Butt
undermined public confidence in his profession by discriminating
against a patient and failed to act in her best interests.
Mr Butt is the older brother of former Islamic extremist Hassan Butt,
who once declared he had 'no problem' with terror attacks on Britain
and who said that September 11 "served the pleasure of Allah".
He has since recanted and now calls for all Muslims to abandon
violence.
The dentist also featured in immigration hearings involving an asylum
seeker suspected of providing a safe house for Kamel Bourgass, an
Algerian terrorist jailed for life for stabbing PC Stephen Oake to
death in Manchester in 2003.
Mr Butt, the immigration hearing was told, was introduced by his
brother to the asylum seeker, who at various points claimed three
different identities.
The tribunal was told that Mr Butt was "a respectable and responsible
person who wishes to help devout and practising Muslims in difficulty".
He "did not regard the use of false names as unusual for asylum
seekers".
The headscarf incident is alleged to have happened in 2005, at a time
when between 4,000 and 8,000 people in Bury were unable to find an NHS
dentist.
According to the charges, Mr Butt "asked to speak to Patient A in
private.
"In the course of conversation with Patient A you: (a) asked whether
she was Muslim; (b) told her words to the effect that, in order to
receive treatment from you, she needed to wear appropriate Islamic
dress; (c) quoted to her parts of the Ahadith."
The Ahadith is a series of instructions on behaviour attributed to
Prophet Mohammed but not written as part of the Koran.
The charge continues: "You told Patient A that, if she did not wear a
headscarf, she would need to register with another dentist. You
instructed your dental nurse to give Patient A her headscarf.
"The dental nurse took Patient A to another room where she was given
the nurse's headscarf to wear.
"In seeking to impose an Islamic dress code on Patient A in order for
treatment to be provided you undermined public confidence in the
profession by discriminating against Patient A."
If the charges are upheld, the Porsche- driving dentist will be found
guilty of serious professional misconduct.
Penalties can range from a public warning to suspension and being
struck off.
Tory MP Sir Paul Beresford, a former minister and a dentist, said:
"When a patient comes to see me I have no concern with their religion.
I do not ask Muslim patients to read the Bible.
"My practice tries to respect religious belief. For example, during
Ramadan we try to help Muslim patients by making sure they do not have
to swallow water when they are fasting. We do not ask patients to
become Christians."
Women staff at Mr Butt's Bury practice do not routinely wear
headscarves while at work.
One female patient said: "I think it is a pretty outrageous thing to
ask but I have never felt as if I am being discriminated against at
this practice as a Western woman.
"If I was then I would certainly make a full complaint. If it is true
then it shows a reverse prejudice bordering on racism."
Mr Butt was involved in another controversial incident earlier this
year when police stopped his Porsche 911 and said they could not read
its customised number plate.
The dentist recorded the subsequent search of the car on his mobile
phone and passed the video to the BBC, which broadcast it on a local
news bulletin. It shows Mr Butt asking an officer: "Are you a racist?"
The dentist was then arrested for racially aggravated behaviour. There
were no charges, and a complaint against the police by Mr Butt is still
being considered.
Mr Butt was unavailable for comment yesterday. Staff at his practice
said he was on holiday.
Original
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Muslim dentist 'told patient to wear a headscarf or go elsewhere'
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