Sharifa Scerif used the card on 80 occasions (Picture: Cavendish)

A junior doctor faces being struck off after she illegally used her disabled sister’s travel pass.

Sharifa Scerif, 27, used the card on 80 occasions to get free public travel around London.

She used the taxpayer funded Freedom Pass system to dodge paying as little as £170 worth of fares and is thought to have made journeys on the Underground, train and bus over a two month period.

Scerif was eventually caught by a ticket inspector at Kings Cross underground station and the official noticed the Freedom Pass she was carrying had a photograph of her sister inside which was partially rubbed out.




Initially the doctor who legally has an Oyster and discount Gold cards said the incident was ‘isolated’ and a ‘one off’ – claiming she had accidentally used her sister Fatma’s pass as it had been mistakenly placed inside her purse by her three year old niece.

But inquiries revealed she had used the pass on numerous occasions to dodge paying her fares and police were called in. She was subsequently convicted of fare dodging, fined £200 and reported to the General Medical Council.

Freedom Passes enable free travel for disabled people (Picture: Rex)

It is thought Scerif, who lives with her sister in Islington would have paid around £170 had she used her Gold card on 80 journeys between December 2017 and January 2018.

The Freedom Pass is a concessionary travel scheme which provided free travel to residents of Greater London who are 60 and over or who have a disability.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester was told the investigation began after Scerif, who graduated at Birmingham University in 2017, was stopped at 7.18am on February 1 2018 by ticket inspector Maria Doyne.

Miss Kathryn Johnson, lawyer for the GMC, said: ‘Mrs Doyne carried out a spot check in relation to the doctor because the ticket machine alerted her to the fact that she had used a Freedom Pass.

‘She challenged Dr Scerif about it and asked if she had something with her name on because she didn’t believe the pass had been issued for the doctor.

‘But Dr Scerif said she could provide a doctors letter then produced an email with the name Sharifa Scerif saying it was a name she ‘sometimes uses’. At that point a colleague of Mrs Doyne said they were about to call police and the doctor admitted it wasn’t her pass, and produced a prepaid Oyster card.

Dr Sharifa Scerif outside her MPTS tribunal hearing in Manchester (Picture: Cavendish)

‘It only had a small amount of money on it, and it was last used five months earlier in October 2017. The doctor was cautioned and was asked who the disabled pass belonged to, and she said it was her sisters. She was asked why she was using it to travel and she said “I shouldn’t be”.

‘Later she provided a written response saying was travelling from Highbury in Islington to Kings Cross and presented the inspector with her Oyster card and an annual Gold card.



‘She said it was to her shock that she realised it was her sister’s Freedom pass that she had used to travel with, and she had no idea it was in her card holder.

‘Her sister confirmed the Freedom pass was in her possession. She said she left it in her room on February 1st as she did not need it for travel that day. She said her three year old niece could have put it on her sisters card holder.

‘The doctor and her sister said it was an isolated, one-off incident. Transport for London responded explaining they would be looking at her journey history and said it didn’t seem to be a one-off incident.

She was caught at King’s Cross (Picture: Getty)

‘They said there were other journeys made from Highbury to Kings Cross.’

Miss Johnson added: ‘The GMC is concerned with the doctor’s behaviour when she was challenged by the ticket inspector. We say she tried to justify her behaviour to Transport for London and lied to the inspector who was challenging her about not having a valid ticket to avoid what she had done and avoid her responsibility of travelling without a valid ticket.’

On July 5 2018, Scerif was convicted at Lavender Hill magistrates court of not having a valid ticket for travel and asked for 80 other offences to be considered. She was also ordered to pay up to £800 in costs and compensation.

The doctor did not attend the JPs court but in a statement said: ‘I had no idea the Freedom Pass was in my card holder. I had no idea how long it had been there. It was likely in my ticket card holder for a two month period and was using it for that period’.


Scerif, who faces being struck off, denies dishonest misconduct.

The hearing continues.