Lydall - "serious and shocking offences"

Friday 01 November 2019

Greg Lydall's former employers have expressed their sadness and disappointment at his criminal behaviour which has now seen him jailed for two and a half years.

He was employed by the States of Guernsey as a psychiatrist, specialising in adult mental health, based at the Oberlands facility at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.

However, at the same time as helping his patients, some of whom would have suffered childhood abuse, he was downloading and saving indecent images of children as young as three years old.

Yesterday he was jailed for 30 months, and given a three year extended sentence which he will serve on licence when he is released from prison.

Pictured: Express reported Gregory Lydall's sentencing yesterday, which you can read in full HERE. 

He had not worked for Health and Social Care since his arrest in January this year, having been on police bail until his initial court appearances, where he was again released on conditional bail until being sentenced yesterday.

However, HSC has said it knows the repercussions of Lydall's 'serious and shocking offences' continue to be felt and that his position of trust within the community makes that criminal behaviour harder to comprehend.

A spokesperson for HSC said: “Following the sentencing of Greg Lydall, a former employee, to 30 months imprisonment the Committee for Health & Social Care wishes to again express its sadness and disappointment at the conduct of Greg Lydall, as well as its gratitude to Guernsey Police.

"Greg Lydall has been convicted of serious and shocking offences which will be felt across our community. The position of trust Greg Lydall formerly occupied makes the situation all the more difficult to comprehend”.

Pictured: The statement issued by HSC after Lydall was jailed. 

Deputy Bailiff Richard McMahon who presided over the case echoed this, saying Lydall's offending could have undermined people's trust in the island's psychiatric services. He also said that while some patients had written to the Court supporting Lydall, it was likely many others had suffered deeply because of what had come to light.

Lydall was born in South Africa, and trained as a doctor there. He came to the UK in 2003, and was given British Citizenship, and then finally in 2010 relocated to Guernsey to take on his first consultancy post. 

While in Johannesburg, Lydall was treating patients who had been the victims of shootings and other serious crimes on a daily basis, and this was when his addiction to pornography started. His defence advocate, Peter Ferbrache, said it had been an outlet for his stress. 

During his time as a consultant, the Court heard how Lydall set up support groups for other psychiatrists to speak to their peers about the stresses of their work. He also headed up island initiatives to reduce the number of addictive drugs being prescribed in Guernsey. 

Advocate Ferbrache said this reminded him of the phrase "psychian, heal thyself", because Lydall was dedicated to helping others - and had been for all of his life - but had not recognised his own problem and tried to get help. 

Lydall is expected to be struck off by the BMA and Royal College of Psychiatrists following his offences. His life as he knew it had been ruined, Advocate Ferbrache told the Court, and it was his fault. 

Pictured top: The Oberlands mental health facility where Greg Lydall (inset) would have worked.