Raj Persaud admits plagiarism but denies dishonesty

Raj Persaud had claimed that he failed to credit colleagues inadvertently

One of Britain's best-known psychiatrists has admitted inadvertent plagiarism before the General Medical Council (GMC), the doctors' disciplinary body.

Raj Persaud, 45, consultant psychiatrist, broadcaster and prolific author, told a misconduct hearing of the GMC in Manchester yesterday that he had passed off other researchers' work as his own in books and articles. He admitted his actions were "inappropriate" and "misleading".

However, Dr Persaud, who made his name as resident psychiatrist on the daytime TV show This Morning in the 1990s and later as presenter of the BBC Radio 4 programme All in the Mind, denied that he had been dishonest or behaved in a way liable to bring the profession into disrepute. If found guilty, he could be struck off.

His defence counsel is expected to argue that where plagiarism occurred it was accidental, owing to omitted references or errors in the editing process.

At the opening of the hearing yesterday, which is expected to last five days, Dr Persaud, wearing a grey suit and black spectacles, admitted plagiarising four articles for his 2003 book, From the Edge of the Couch. He also admitted reproducing other material as if it was his own in articles for journals and newspapers, including The Independent.

Jeremy Donne QC, for the GMC, said: "The articles, we say, speak for themselves and they all demonstrate the extent Dr Persaud has appropriated the work of others as his own. We further allege that Dr Persaud has been dishonest ... Dishonesty can be inferred from his repeated conduct in plagiarising the work of academics ... thereby enhancing his professional reputation and standing with the public as well as enhancing himself in the press."

The psychiatrist, who first appeared on breakfast TV in 1994, is renowned for his hard work and prodigious output as a broadcaster and author which he man- aged to maintain alongside work as a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in south London.

His troubles began in April 2006 when allegations of plagiarism first surfaced in an article in the Sunday Times. The Times Educational Supplement admitted he had "copied" another academic's work and the British Medical Journal and Pro-gress in Neurology both retracted articles by him following allegations of plagiarism. The latter case prompted an apology from Dr Persaud, who said a "cutting and pasting error" meant some references had been omitted.

King's College, where Dr Persaud held an honorary position as director of the Centre for Public Engagement in Mental Health Sciences, launched an inquiry into the allegations and found they had "some substance". But the college took no further action. Dr Persaud withdrew from the position and the centre is no longer operating.

Mr Donne told the GMC hearing yesterday that Dr Persaud had sought and obtained permission to quote an article by a Professor Bentall and colleagues called An Evolutionary Connection: Personality and Individual Differences in his book From the Edge of the Couch.

He said: "Professor Bentall gave his permission assuming that Dr Persaud ... would know that quotations would have appeared in parenthesis and be properly attributed. Having seen the passage, Professor Bentall was astonished that a substantial portion of his paper had simply been copied into the book in what he believes was a deliberate act of plagiarism."

Mr Donne said Dr Persaud was being "disingenuous" by claiming that he had acknowledged the original contributors to his book. He said: "While it's true the book contains a general acknowledgement there's no, or certainly no adequate, attribution of the passages themselves."

The hearing continues.

Case history

*For more than a decade, Raj Persaud, 45, has had successful careers in medicine and journalism. He mastered the art of translating jargon into plain language and uses case histories to enliven his media work. His output has been the envy of less energetic colleagues. He is consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in south London, Britain's leading psychiatric institution.

As a broadcaster, he has presented All in the Mind on Radio 4 and channel Five's Doctor, Doctor. He has written for dozens of newspapers and magazines and has published a number of books. He was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2004.

Born in Reading and educated at Haberdasher's Aske's, a private school in Elstree, Hertfordshire, he qualified in medicine at University College London and holds a first in psychology, plus qualifications in philosophy, statistics and history of medicine. His latest book is called The Mind: A User's Guide.