The General Osteopathic Council (GOsC), the UK regulator of osteopaths, has successfully prosecuted Gareth Milner, who practised in West London, for a second time for unlawfully describing himself as an osteopath after leaving the GOsC’s Register of osteopaths.
Mr Milner appeared at City of London Magistrates’ Court on 22 May 2025, and was found guilty of using the osteopathic title while not registered with the GOsC.
Since the passing of the Osteopaths Act 1993, the osteopathic title is protected, which means it is a criminal offence for any person to describe themselves, whether expressly or by implication, as any kind of osteopath unless registered with the GOsC.
Protecting the osteopathic title helps the GOsC to protect patients and members of the public. Only the individuals on our Register – those who are trained and qualified healthcare professionals, held to high standards of practice, who are insured and who regularly keep their skills up to date – are able to legally practise osteopathy in the UK.
Mr Milner had resigned from the GOsC’s Register in July 2011, and was therefore no longer permitted to use the title of osteopath.
The offence related to information that Mr Milner continued to provide on his websites, which implied that he was still an osteopath, despite the fact that he had resigned from the GOsC’s Register in 2011. Mr Milner was given warnings by the GOsC that by continuing to use the osteopathic title he was breaching section 32 (1) of the Osteopaths Act, and may be committing a criminal offence. Despite this, he failed to make any changes to his websites.
Mr Milner was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,080 to the GOsC. Mr Milner was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £800. The court made a Collection Order in relation to the full amount of £3,880.
This is not the first time that the GOsC has successfully prosecuted Mr Milner. On 4 March 2021 Mr Milner was successfully prosecuted for the same offence and was on that occasion fined £1,300 and ordered to pay costs of £360 to the GOsC.
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