A DOCTOR convicted of drugs offences for a second time has been suspended by a medical watchdog.

But Dr Michael Rosser will be allowed to return to practice in two months after the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled he had shown "significant insight and remorse" into his failings.

Dr Rosser, previously known as Dr Michael Condon, had previously blamed the stresses of working as an A&E doctor in Telford for his lapses, after he imported synthetic stimulant Alpha PHP, methylone powder and the psychoactive substance flurohenmetrazine (FPM).

The 41-year-old, then of Blackburn Road, Sharples, was given a 12-month community order, including 200 hours community service, after he admitted to offences of evading duty on the drugs and importing a pyschoactive substance.

The hearing was told that text messages had also been found, showing that Rosser, between January and February 2017, had offered to supply steroids to a third party.

Under his previous name, he also had Shrewsbury Crown Court convictions, dating from 2005, for deception and hard drugs possession offences, which saw him given a suspended prison term.

Dr Rosser, in a statement, said: "The allegations relate to my personal life and never to my professional life.

"I have not abused my position as a doctor nor have I abused my prescribing rights."

He told the hearing he had also been suspended without pay for nine months by his bosses.

Several testimonials were submitted to the MPTS by colleagues on behalf of the doctor, who is now a locum middle grade doctor in the emergency department at Scunthorpe Hospital.

Ordering his suspension for two months, panel chairman Christina Moller said the penalty would "minimise the amount of time the public would be deprived of a competent and valued doctor" while marking the seriousness of the case.

His Shrewsbury convictions had previously seen him suspended by the former General Medical Council for 12 months.