THE victim of a paedophile GP has expressed their shock after the GP was not automatically struck off the medical register.

A jury last year ruled that Dr Robin Borthwick, 78, of Southend Road in Bradfield, had sexually abused an eight-year-old boy in the 1970s and 1980s.

However, a judge found that the doctor was unfit to stand trial - meaning he will never face a prison sentence.

Now, the General Medical Council (GMC) - the regulator for doctors practicing in the UK - has said it will not be removing Dr Borthwick from its register.

In an email to the doctor's victim, a GMC representative said that decisions over the register were the responsibility of internal tribunals.

They said Dr Borthwick - who worked at surgeries across West Berkshire - was too ill to sit before such a tribunal.

Instead, an application has been made on behalf of the disgraced doctor to strike his name off the register voluntarily.

His victim - now an adult - told the Reading Chronicle that the GMC's inability to act has denied him closure.

He said: "I think every man and woman in the street would be gobsmacked that a convicted paedophile GP isn't ... struck off [the medical register].

"The GMC has an obligation to maintain public confidence in the medical profession. That's why they exist.

"So I think that most people would assume that he would be automatically struck off.

"They have to do the right thing - make it happen, somehow."

A spokesperson for the GMC said: "Our sympathies are with Dr Borthwick’s victim, and we acknowledge how distressing this must be for them.

"When dealing with cases involving such serious crimes as those committed by Dr Borthwick, we would always seek for the matter to be aired at a public tribunal.

"Unfortunately, the factors that meant Dr Borthwick was unable to participate in the criminal proceedings also apply to his ability to engage in the GMC’s fitness to practise proceedings."