A doctor who slapped a woman while drunk, drove under the influence, and drank half a bottle of wine while on shift has fled the UK. At the time of the incidents, Dr Deepu Alkere Nanjundaswamy was practising as a specialty doctor in the emergency department at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, Derbyshire.
Nanjundaswamy, who is believed to have qualified in India, has been “erased” from the medical register following a week-long tribunal held in private at the end of June. It confirmed that he is a wanted man who will be arrested if he sets foot in the UK again.
The first offence
The tribunal heard that Nanjundaswamy’s first offence was in April 2023, when an off-duty officer saw him “stumbling into the main road” down Eastwood Park Drive before getting into the driver’s seat of a car. He was attempting to turn the key in the ignition when the officer arrived, and pleaded with her to allow him to leave. A breathalyser later found he was more than three times over the legal driving limit.
At Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on 27 April 2023, Nanjundaswamy pleaded guilty to operating a motor vehicle after drinking alcohol in excess of the legal limit, and was fined £2,200 and disqualified from driving for four months. He failed to declare that he had been charged and convicted of a criminal offence to the General Medical Council or to his employer.
Drinking on shift
The doctor was also accused of drinking alcohol on shift in August 2023. A witness statement said he was removed from the hospital floor after staff smelled alcohol on his breath. A nurse had also reported him for falling over a drip stand, forgetting about a patient waiting for a CT scan, and smelling of alcohol.
He initially denied it but later admitted he drank up to three quarters of a bottle of wine during an interview with the trust in November 2023. He wrote: “On 23 August 2023 whilst I was at work I received a call from a relative in India in which I was told that [XXX]. I was shocked and devastated. I went to my friend’s car to have a break and found a bottle of wine in there which I drank.”
The assault
It was also alleged that on 28 January 2025, at Chesterfield train station, Nanjundaswamy slapped a woman’s face whilst intoxicated. A letter from British Transport Police stated that he had “walked back to the victim and struck her once across the face”.
Fleeing the country
On 9 July 2025, Nanjundaswamy was charged with assault and four days later he was notified via post that he was scheduled to appear at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on 4 August 2025. However, Nanjundaswamy left the UK on 28 July 2025. He told the GMC he had “permanently relocated” via email in August last year.
A wanted marker is currently placed on him, and if he returns to the country he will be arrested upon arrival. The report stated it appeared that he purposefully left the UK to escape the consequences. Nanjundaswamy’s registration will be suspended. If an appeal is made, the immediate order will remain in force until the appeal has concluded.
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