When a NSW paramedic took leave to travel to the UK, his employers did not realise he was hopping on a plane to fight an allegation of sexual abuse.
Sipho Gift Nkanyezi had been working for the London Ambulance Service for four years when he molested a 25-year-old female paramedic in the early hours after a birthday party on May 4, 2019.
Charged two days later, he told UK police there had been a "massive misunderstanding".
The then 35-year-old resigned in July 2019, flying back to Australia where he started working for NSW Ambulance the following month.
Taking leave in December 2021, Nkanyezi flew to the UK to face a jury trial where he pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault.
He was found guilty, sentenced to a 24-month suspended sentence, fined £2000 and was placed on the UK sex offenders database for 10 years.
He then flew back to Australia and resumed work at NSW Ambulance in February 2022.
On Wednesday, Nkanyezi had his registration cancelled for 12 months after failing to notify NSW Ambulance, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, or the Paramedicine Board of Australia about the charge he faced or the conviction.
His conduct was "incompatible with what is an acceptable standard of behaviour for a registered paramedic," the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found in a decision published on Wednesday.
He was required to report any changes to his criminal history when he began working in 2021 and again when he renewed his registration in 2022 and 2023.
His "improper and unethical conduct" deprived his employer and the relevant medical associations from protecting other paramedics, patients and the general public, the tribunal said.
He has also been banned for a year from providing health services.
At the birthday party in May 2019, Nkanyezi made his victim uncomfortable through his "sexualised" dancing at the pub and club.
Returning back to the woman's home, bedding was arranged downstairs for guests and the victim went upstairs to her bedroom.
Nkanyezi went upstairs around 6am, where he touched and groped her.
"Get out! Get out of my house!" she screamed at him.
He contacted her on Facebook Messenger complaining he had been kicked out of her home.
"You f***ing touched me while I was sleeping, you can f** off," she replied.
The tribunal noted that he continued to deflect responsibility, telling the victim that he "did nothing but help" and that he would fight the allegations with all his might.
"I came into your house with gifts, yet you sent me out like a dog?" he wrote.
"Your night ended badly, I was not responsibly (sic) for that."
In stripping Nkanyezi of his registration, the tribunal found there was no evidence of any remorse or insight.
After 12 months, Nkanyezi can apply for a review to re-register himself as a paramedic.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028