A disgraced children’s doctor has been jailed for 28 months after arranging to meet an underage boy for sex on hospital grounds.

Intensive care paediatrician Salman Siddiqi - who was allowed to continue treating youngsters at Margate's QEQM despite having a police caution for flashing - was arrested at the site following a sting by a self-professed “paedophile hunter”.

The anonymous detective - who works alone - had pretended to be a 14-year-old boy and arranged to meet the consultant at his lodgings in the hospital grounds.

Siddiqi, 44, from London, sent naked pictures of himself ahead of the 3am encounter on January 8 this year and was expecting the pair to engage in sexual activity.

But when he was instead confronted outside the accommodation by a 49-year-old man, he turned and ran into the hospital's A&E department.

The 'paedo hunter' gave chase while calling police, following Siddiqi through a number of doors he was opening using a security card.

Siddiqi was eventually detained by staff and arrested when officers arrived at the hospital, before being charged.

He was jailed today at Canterbury Crown Court for 28 months and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

Amy Nicholson, prosecuting, told how Siddiqi used a gay dating app called Grindr to converse with a paedophile hunter claiming to be a 14-year-old boy called Lee.

The doctor also lied about his age on his profile, saying he was 32 when in fact he was 44.

"Mr Siddiqi engaged with Lee on the Grindr app and asked him to come to his home for oral sex and sent pictures of his erect penis," Ms Nicholson said.

"He asked him to come to his place of work to meet him at the QEQM, where the defendant was working at the time as a paediatric doctor."

The pair started talking on January 7, with ‘Lee’ making it clear he was underage.

The amateur detective asked asked: "Are you okay with me being 14?"

The defendant replied: "Yes."

In later messages, when asked if he wanted to meet, Siddiqi said: "It is not allowed by law otherwise I would've loved it."

But Siddiqi was later swayed to meet for sexual activity at his accommodation at the QEQM’s Nightingale block in Ramsgate Road, which was on hospital grounds.

In a statement read in court, the paedophile hunter said: "I took my hood down and uncovered my face.

"I said, 'I am obviously not Lee, I am Kenny and I am a sexual protection activist'."

The defendant hid in the hospital car park before running into an A&E entrance for ambulances.

When he was arrested shortly before 5.30am, he had changed into hospital scrubs.

Explicit messages and images related to his offending were uncovered when police searched his phone.

His barrister, Kevin Dent KC, told the court today that Siddiqi had an “unblemished” record as a doctor and that he “deeply regrets his conduct”.

He also told how the offending had happened in a “depressive episode” and that Siddiqi was willing to address his behaviour.

“At the time, Mr Siddiqi was struggling with the stresses and strains of caring for a severely disabled four-year-old son and the trauma of his condition,” he said.

“He was also trying to cope with his attraction to adult males.”

Mr Dent told the court there were financial problems that arose after Siddiqi received a caution and suspension for an incident four years ago, which made it hard to get regular work.

He added the doctor is a “figure of shame and embarrassment to those who know him”.

Siddiqi had previously been cautioned by police for flashing his genitals in broad daylight in a London nature reserve in 2019.

Until officers arrived at the scene in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Siddiqi was held in a citizens' arrest by onlookers.

He failed to tell the General Medical Council (GMC) about the caution, and in January 2021 started working for East Kent Hospitals, which runs the QEQM.

Siddiqi was employed by the trust through a recruitment agency called ProMedical, but despite the fact his police caution would have shown on a Disclosure and Barring Service certificate, it was not picked up by either.

Two months later Siddiqi told GMC officials about the caution following an “informal discussion” with a senior colleague.

But a disciplinary hearing did not take place until July 2022, following which he was suspended for a month.

Despite this, East Kent Hospitals deemed Siddiqi not to be a risk to patients and he was allowed to continue working at its sites until his arrest in January this year.

Judge Mark Weekes described Siddiqi’s actions as “deeply troubling offending”.

“With the knowledge and training you have in your profession, you of all people should have known the deep and everlasting harm you were prepared to cause,” he added.

“There was mercifully no child victim in this case and this was no thanks to you.”

The judge added that he hopes East Kent Hospitals will carry out an investigation into Siddiqi’s actions.

“To my mind, very real safeguarding concerns are raised by your behaviour and I hope appropriate investigations are conducted by QEQM and associated hospitals following your sentencing,” he said.

"If you were the parent of one of the children he was treating you'd be disgusted...”

The paedophile hunter, who says he has helped secure more than 100 convictions in nine years, previously told KentOnline how Siddiqi should never have been working in a hospital, let alone with children.

"I'm hoping the NHS is going to look into how he was recruited despite what he has done," he said.

"How on earth can someone with a caution for a sexual offence be allowed to work with children?

"If that was you or me who got caught flashing we wouldn't be able to get another job, yet alone on a children's ward. It's unbelievable.

"If you were the parent of one of the children he was treating you'd be disgusted. I imagine there'll be many complaints and someone needs to be held accountable."

Following Siddiqi’s arrest in January, Rebecca Martin - the chief medical officer at East Kent Hospitals – says the incident was immediately reported to the General Medical Council.

“Our review did not identify any patient involvement or failures in our processes that would have directly prevented this criminal offence,” she said.

“There were missed opportunities to identify his previous caution and we have taken steps to ensure that it cannot happen again.”

ProMedical has been asked for a comment.