27 Feb 2026
An RCVS disciplinary panel said a short suspension could effectively have become permanent due to current Home Office rules.
Vet Times
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A vet has been reprimanded and warned as to his future conduct after he was given a suspended prison term for drink-driving in Romania.
An RCVS disciplinary panel concluded Tudor Herlea’s actions rendered him unfit to practise after he lost a court appeal against his sentence.
But the committee also ruled a more severe sanction would be “disproportionate” because of the risk that current immigration rules could prevent him from ever working in the UK again.
Dr Herlea was initially sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years, by the Cluj-Napoca court in March 2024 for drink-driving and driving while his licence was suspended.
But the sentence only came into effect following the completion of the appeal process in January last year, six months after Dr Herlea began working in the UK.
Newly published documents from the hearing, held earlier this month, showed Dr Herlea had been caught in February 2023 when he went out to buy medication for his father, who has a heart condition and had become unwell after visiting his home.
His licence had been suspended following a speeding incident the previous December.
Dr Herlea, who reported his conviction to the RCVS himself, admitted that it rendered him unfit to practise.
The reports said he had shown “genuine remorse” for his actions, while a probation officer described the chances of him reoffending as “low”.
He was also supported by colleagues from the Vets4Pets practice at Cleveleys, near Blackpool, which had sponsored his application for a work permit.
Although the committee described Dr Herlea’s actions as “serious”, its chair, Hilary Lloyd, said the mitigating circumstances meant suspending him was “neither necessary nor proportionate”, as it would have forced him and his sponsoring practice to inform the Home Office that he could no longer meet the terms of his work permit.
She added: “It is not therefore unreasonable to assume that under current Home Office guidance, even a short period of suspension would result in Dr Herlea being unable to practise in the UK, with permanent effect, which would be disproportionate.”
However, the panel also warned that his registration would “inevitably” be jeopardised in the event of any future misconduct.
