A FORMER Okehampton dentist, who 20 years ago took photographs of a naked young girl, was last week given a 'slap on the wrist' at a disciplinary hearing.

John Keith Bromilow, 58, had pleaded with the General Dental Council in London not to strike him off, claiming he had only been guilty of 'an error of judgment'.

The council's professional conduct committee heard that Mr Bromilow pleaded guilty at Bradford Crown Court on April 17 to four offences of taking an indecent photograph of a child and was sentenced a week later to six months' imprisonment, suspended for six months.

Barrister Martin Forde told the committee the offences happened about 20 years ago when Mr Bromilow and his first wife, Susan, were living in North Yorkshire.

He had been forced to retire from dentistry in Surrey in 1979 because of an illness which caused a tremor. His wife opened three shops in Yorkshire and he developed an interest in photography and art.

But when the couple began divorce proceedings in 1997, Mrs Bromilow sent photographs - not the subject of the court case - to the police. A search was carried out of Mr Bromilow's premises and 24 photographs of an eight-year-old girl were discovered - some showing her performing a form of striptease. Some of the pictures showed the girl naked, others depicted her with some attire or adopting 'coquettish' poses.

Mr Forde said the Judge at the original hearing had told Mr Bromilow that if the offences had come to light when the pictures were taken he would have sent him to prison. But he was influenced in suspending the sentence by the length of time since the pictures were taken.

Mr Bromilow told the committee he had intended to do sketches based on the photographs. He insisted he had never developed the photos and had not seen them until about a week before the crown court case.

He added: 'I accept they were indecent and a severe error of judgment on my part.

'I have never taken any similar photos since because I realised how easy it is to cross the line.'

He told the committee he was not a paedophile and was not attracted to children of either sex. He was now happily married to his second wife.

He appealed to the committee not to take any action to affect his registration which he had kept despite having had to give up practice for a time.

After lengthy discussions behind closed doors, the committee decided to conclude Mr Bromilow's case with no further action except to express disapproval of his behaviour, saying it had fallen seriously below that expected of a registered dentist.

Chairman Trevor Griffiths said the committee was very concerned about his lack of personal judgment even though it took notice that his behaviour was not in a professional context. It also took into account the fact that it was a single event more than 18 years ago and his professional behaviour otherwise had been of a high standard.

Mr Bromilow had worked at surgeries in Okehampton and Newquay where he had a reputation of being good with children at the family clinic, calming their nerves before check-ups. He ceased work earlier this year.

Local health chiefs had asked a NHS tribunal to suspend him but in July the tribunal decided he would not be a risk.