A former vascular surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital has been struck off the medical register after being convicted of possessing 326 indecent images of children.

According to a report published by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, indecent pictures were found across three of Dr Lukasz Woda’s devices. 50 of these images were Category A, showing the rape of children under the age of 10.

The Addenbrooke’s surgeon pleaded guilty to three offences of downloading, viewing and moving indecent photographs of children. Pleading guilty on October 3, 2024 Woda was sentenced to 5 months imprisonment at Cambridge Crown Court, including a rehabilitation requirement, and was suspended for 18 months.

Woda will also be placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order until January 9, 2035.

During the hearing, Woda claimed that he had drunk 300ml of whiskey at the time of downloading the images and was “not fully aware of what he was doing,” claiming he “unintentionally acquired a folder containing indecent images” that he “immediately deleted upon recognition”.

The tribunal stated that digital forensic analysis proved Woda’s allegations to be false, confirming that he had “actively searched for terms directly associated with indecent images of children”. The tribunal also concluded that Woda had taken a number of measures “aimed at concealing his conduct,” including using “file-sharing technology” and “wiping software to avoid detection”.

Colette Renton, the counsel representative of the General Medical Council, stressed that Woda’s convictions were “not merely trivial or inconsequential,” adding that this was not a “temporary lapse in judgement or something excusable or forgivable”.

Woda’s actions were found to be “fundamentally incompatible with the high standards expected of medical practitioners,” amounting to a “serious misconduct”. The tribunal also states that Dr Woda “repeatedly referred to his conduct as ‘letting out emotions,’ which the tribunal considered to be a minimisation of the serious harm caused”.

The tribunal concluded Woda “failed to recognise the direct link between the demand created by his actions and the exploitation and sexual abuse of real children to produce such material”.

The tribunal also deemed it necessary to remove his name from the medical register, given that his behaviour “seriously undermines patients’ and the public’s trust and confidence in the medical profession”. The objective of this measure was described as being to “send a message to the medical profession and to the public that this type of behaviour was unacceptable”.

A CUH spokesperson said: “We are pleased the facts of this case have been fully investigated by the police, the courts, and the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal. These offences were not linked to his work at the Trust and no patients were involved. None-the-less, it is an appalling case and the doctor was suspended when arrested and dismissed when charged. We would like to thank all those who have helped to bring it to a conclusion.”