An elderly dentist who allegedly abused two nurses while they were working in his dental office was reprimanded.
Eamonn Mccann reached out to Witness A, a dental nurse who was only known as Witness, while she chatted with patients. He gave her a ‘Christmas hug’ and gave her her bonus.
McCann then tried to have sex in public with the woman, one day after the rest of the staff had quit the practice. She claimed it was the ‘final straw’. A panel was informed.
A second dental nurse was contacted after being sexually assaulted six different times. Sometimes, it happened while the patients were still seated. The panel heard her admit she hesitated at first because he was the owner and employer of the practice.
The panel was told that he denied the allegations and said he couldn’t remember Witness A.
McCann’s suspension was imposed after McCann’s repeated instances of inappropriate, sexually motivated and non-consensual physical contact with female nurses has been determined by the General Dental Council.
Eamonn Mccann, a member of the General Dental Council, was heard to have repeatedly touched a nursing assistant in the 1990s. She then sexually assaulted another nurse in 2015 (file photo).
McCann was a Queen’s University of Belfast graduate in 1982. He would tickle Witness A by deliberately prolonging patients’ treatment in order to assault Witness A in the surgery. Also, comments were made about her body. This information was revealed to a committee.
According to the panel, she began wearing her father’s cardigan in order to conceal her body.
McCann’s behavior caused her to tell the committee that she was going to try closing her legs and getting up.
Witness A said to the committee, “There was one incident.” [McCann]I was happy when my husband came to the Practice at Christmas. He gave me a big kiss and offered bonuses. The cloakroom was empty when I left for Christmas. It was me alone.
“He kissed me on my cheek, and said: “I’ve always wanted you to give me a Christmas kiss.”
“One time, he also went underneath my underwear. He was doing this while casually talking to patients.
McCann ran towards the nurse and placed his head on her stomach, causing her to vomit.
Elle continued, “At one point in those days I was still working with them.” [McCann]He tried to have sex in my presence.
McCann was a Northern Irish dentist who was removed from the Register after an independent panel found multiple sexual assault allegations made by dental nurses to be true (stock photo).
“This was it. I had finally reached the end. The practice was empty and everyone had gone. The surgery room was the scene.
‘I was wearing my Uniform, I recall, I will not forget. Because I was wearing dark brown underwear, I wondered whether he had seen it underneath my white uniform.
“He was friendly, and had touched my legs all day. He stated that my skin felt soft.
“He touched only my legs because patients can’t see it,” he said.
“It was the last day of surgery, and I was just cleaning out the surgical area when he launched at me.
“I do not believe he kissed my. His tunic would be removed in surgery, not in the cloakroom. He was always topless under it.
“I thought his trousers were on. But his zip was not undone. The effect lasted only seconds. I think he must have taken my underwear off.
Witness A stated that witness A was ‘distressed’ by this statement and she ran ‘immediately home’.
McCann stated to the panel that he wouldn’t have done it.
Witness B, more than twenty years later, stated that McCann had pressed against Witness B’s crotch while she was sending an email in 2015.
The panel was told by her: “While I was typing, the next thing that I knew he had pinned me against the desk where the computer was. His penis seemed to be erect, and he was pushing me up.
“I was just trying to send the email and be done with it.” He started doing an in-and out motion three to four times, and I was beginning to panic.
Witness B stated to the committee that Mr McCann had touched her leg once more, before moving on to her crotch.
McCann also denied that he touched McCann’s crotch in an x-ray taken at the surgery. McCann suggested that he may have just brushed by her.
Witness B claimed McCann also squeezed her buttock beneath her pants which made her feel very uncomfortable.
Police in County Tyrone issued Mr McCann a caution for reckless contacts in 2017.
Witness C was a witness who had been a patient of McCann in the past. He said that he touched the breast of the nurse’s thigh for several minutes during a 2009 or 2010 appointment.
Patient stated that the nurse had made him feel ‘visibly unhappy’, which caused the patient to become ‘upset and uneasy’.
Witnesses A and B independently presented their claims to the General Dental Council.
McCann, who was previously suspended for a period of one year, has been struck from the register by the committee. It concluded: “You used strikingly similar modes of operation in relation to sexual touching against your female dental assistants when there were patients in the chairs’ in the dental surgery.”
“The evidence regarding your conduct, taken in its entirety, suggests that you frequently sought to sexually contact dental nurses who work for you. This includes during patient visits.