A physiotherapist has been given a 12-month caution for encouraging a patient to fire an air pistol at a sundial. The Health Professions Council panel also heard that Stephen Sterling, of Sunderland, told the serious head injury patient to demolish a wall.
Panel members said allowing a person who had suffered neurological damage in a road accident to fire a pistol amounted to misconduct. Mr Sterling admitted he now realised he had "stepped over the mark".
His lawyers argued at the hearing that the "unorthodox treatments" were designed to fit his patient's past lifestyle as an "adrenaline junkie". The patient, identified only as GB, began treatment with Mr Sterling in 2007 and the panel heard the treatments had left him feeling humiliated and belittled.
Melinka Berridge, solicitor for the HBC, said: "GB had suffered massive head injuries as a result of a road accident. Providing a loaded pistol to a man with these difficulties is an inherently dangerous act."
GB alleged the physiotherapist had given him acupuncture on a park bench and then called him a "wuss" when he complained it was painful. Mr Sterling admitted performing acupuncture outside but the panel ruled it had not been proved that the physiotherapist had called GB a "wuss".
The physiotherapist also admitted mistakenly overcharging GB for treatment but the panel ruled that this action had not been deliberate. The panel also ruled that it had not been proved that Mr Sterling had made GB throw a ball to his sister's dog on several occasions for the full duration of the treatment sessions.
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