A Guyanese doctor has admitted to a Medical Council disciplinary hearing he bit a pub bouncer on the arm but said he did so in order to save his life.
Dr Vikas Gobin faces an allegation of professional misconduct at the council's fitness-to-practise committee over the incident, which occurred at the Front Door pub in Galway in December 2011.
He said he bit Sean O’Brien on the arm because the bouncer had a chokehold on him and he feared for his life.
“I regret my action and accept that I did bite him, but I was in fear for my life,” Dr Gobin told the hearing.
Dr Gobin, who is representing himself, gave evidence by Skype from Guyana.
At the time of the alleged incident, he was working as a trainee doctor in University Hospital Galway. He graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in 2011.
It is alleged Dr Gobin engaged in threatening, abusive and/or insulting behaviour towards Sean O’Brien, one of the security personnel at the pub, and that he refused to leave the pub in an orderly manner.
Headbutting allegation
It is also alleged he tried to headbutt Mr O’Brien when he was attempting to escort him from the pub, and that he bit into Mr O’Brien’s forearm for about one minute.
Mr O’Brien had earlier told the hearing Dr Gobin attempted to headbutt him and then bit him on the arm for up to two minutes as he attempted to remove him from the pub.
Dr Gobin said he was gathering his belongings in the pub as it was closing at about 2.15am on December 3rd, 2011.
He got into an argument with another patron, and security arrived. Mr O’Brien grabbed him from behind and began moving him to the exit.
He said he feared for his life as the hold Mr O’Brien maintained was impairing his breathing.
He tried to get Mr O’Brien to remove his arm by rubbing his chin on it but when this didn’t work he did the only thing he could in self-preservation, he said, by biting Mr O’Brien’s arm.
He referred to other incidents where a person was killed by a chokehold and pointed out that Mr O’Brien was trained in martial arts.
He agreed he acted in a disruptive, abusive and insulting manner towards Mr O’Brien but denied trying to headbutt the bouncer.
‘Incredibly regretful’
“I am so incredibly regretful and embarrassed with my conduct. I know it was unfitting.
“I am not a regular drinker so I was definitely impaired, and I accept full liability,” he said. “I am very sorry. As a result I have tried to be a better person.”
In his evidence, Mr O’Brien said he was working on security in the pub when he was told to go to an inner bar to deal with a situation. He said there was a bit of a kerfuffle involving “a big guy, foreign” who was very intoxicated.
He put his arm around Dr Gobin’s waist and tried gentle persuasion to get him out, but started meeting resistance.
Dr Gobin tried to “bulldoze away from me” and then attempted a headbutt unsuccessfully. “You could just see the aggression,” Mr O’Brien said.
He said he put his arm up over Dr Gobin’s shoulder, who then bit him and maintained the grip for “1-2 minutes”.
He released only after Mr O’Brien’s colleagues came to his assistance, and Dr Gobin was put out on the street.
Mr O’Brien said he applied a dressing to the wound and went to Castlebar General Hospital the following day for treatment. He said he was left with a permanent scar.
Cross-examining the witness, Dr Gobin suggested the hold Mr O’Brien had on him in the pub was potentially lethal because the bouncer’s arm was compressing his windpipe.
Mr O’Brien rejected this and said he hadn’t engaged in the “stereotypical image of a bouncer with his arm around someone’s throat”.
He said he had training in control and restraint and engaged in the only safe option open to him at the time.
The hearing was scheduled to last two days.
