A nurse and a healthcare worker have been jailed after patients were sedated for an “easy shift” and “amusement”.
Catherine Hudson, 54, and Charlotte Wilmot, 48, ill-treated those in their care on a stroke unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in Lancashire between February 2017 and November 2018, the trial heard.
Sentencing the pair at Preston Crown Court, Judge Robert Altham said their duty was to protect and care for their patients, who were “as vulnerable as anyone could be”.
Instead they “exploited them for an easy shift, for amusement, and to exercise a contemptuous power over them,” he said.
Hudson, who was described as the “leading offender”, was sentenced to seven years and two months in prison.
Image: Judge Robert Altham said patients were exploited ‘for an easy shift’
The court heard she sedated “all the troublemakers” and those she considered “a nightmare”.
Wilmot, who was supervised by Hudson, was sentenced to three years in prison.
Hudson was found guilty of ill-treating two patients. Both women were found guilty of conspiracy to ill-treat a patient by administering sedatives.
Wilmot was also found guilty of encouraging Hudson to sedate a patient, while Hudson was found guilty of theft of the drug Mebeverine from an end-of-life patient.
Image: WhatsApp messages between Hudson and Wilmot
She pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to conspiring with other colleagues to steal other drugs including Zopiclone and also a further offence of perverting the course of justice. Wilmot had also pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal medication from the hospital.
Police were alerted in November 2018 to investigate after a whistleblowing student nurse on a work placement said Hudson suggested administering unprescribed Zopiclone to a patient – 76-year-old Aileen Scott.
Zopiclone is a class C controlled drug and is potentially life-threatening if given inappropriately to acutely unwell patients, the court heard.
The student nurse was further troubled when Hudson commented: “Well she’s got a DNAR (do not attempt resuscitation) in place so she wouldn’t be opened up if she died or like if it came to any harm.”
Ms Scott had been rushed to Blackpool Victoria after suffering a stroke in her room at the Imperial Hotel and was completely paralysed on the left side of her body.
Whistleblower’s ‘bravery saved mum’s life’
Her son, Brian Scott, told the court the “bravery” of the whistleblower had “most likely saved my mum’s life”.
Giving his victim personal statement from the witness box, he turned to Hudson in the dock, and added: “Thanks to the bravery of a student nurse in highlighting you and your evil and uncaring ways, it has most likely saved my mum’s life.
“The way you spoke about them (patients) is beyond belief and nothing short of wicked and pure evil.”
Image: Hudson sedated patients, including Aileen Scott. Pic: Lancashire Police
Speaking outside court, Mr Scott said he was “delighted” with the sentences as he described the behaviour of those involved as “absolutely heartbreaking”.
“During the trial, there was mention of ‘we will take this to the grave’. But they didn’t, they were found out,” he said.
WhatsApp messages revealed ‘culture of abuse’
Prosecutors said a “culture of abuse” was revealed on the unit when police examined WhatsApp phone messages between the co-defendants and other members of staff.
Hudson wrote about one of her victims: “I sedated one of them to within an inch of her life lol. Bet she’s flat for a week haha xxx.”
In a message exchange about an elderly male patient, Hudson wrote: “I’m going to kill bed 5 xxx.”
Wilmot replied: “Pmsl (pissing myself laughing) well tonight sedate him to high heaven lol xxx.”
Hudson replied: “Already in my head to give him double!!”
Giving evidence, both defendants denied all the allegations and claimed the private messages were “banter” and not supposed to be taken seriously.
They said the “gallows humour” was the venting of their frustrations at working in a chronically understaffed unit.
All 14 children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a boy died in a fire have been released on police bail, officers said.
Layton Carr, 14, was found dead near the site of a fire at Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area of Gateshead on Friday.
Northumbria Police said on Saturday that they had arrested 11 boys and three girls in connection with the incident.
In an update on Sunday, a Northumbria Police spokesman said: “All those arrested have since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:08
Teenager dies in industrial estate fire
Firefighters raced to the industrial site shortly after 8pm on Friday, putting out the blaze a short time later.
Police then issued an appeal for Carr, who was believed to be in the area at that time.
In a statement on Saturday, the force said that “sadly, following searches, a body believed to be that of 14-year-old Layton Carr was located deceased inside the building”.
More on Northumbria
Related Topics:
David Thompson, headteacher of Hebburn Comprehensive School, where Layton was a pupil, said the school community was “heartbroken”.
Mr Thompson described him as a “valued and much-loved member of Year 9” and said he would be “greatly missed by everyone”.
He added that the school’s “sincere condolences” were with Layton’s family and that the community would “rally together to support one another through this tragedy”.
A fundraising page on GoFundMe has been set up to help Layton’s mother pay for funeral costs.
Image: Pic: Gofundme
Organiser Stephanie Simpson said: “The last thing Georgia needs to stress trying to pay for a funeral for her Boy Any donations will help thank you.”
One tribute in a Facebook post read: “Can’t believe I’m writing this my nephew RIP Layton 💔 forever 14 you’ll be a massive miss, thinking of my sister and 2 beautiful nieces right now.”
Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, also said: “This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life.”
She added that the force’s “thoughts are with Layton’s family as they begin to attempt to process the loss of their loved one”.
They are working to establish “the full circumstances surrounding the incident” and officers will be in the area to “offer reassurance to the public”, she added.
A cordon remains in place at the site while police carry out enquiries.
Football bodies could be forced to pay towards the care costs of ex-players who have been diagnosed with brain conditions, under proposals set to be considered by MPs.
Campaigners are drafting amendments to the Football Governance Bill, which would treat conditions caused by heading balls as an “industrial injuries issue”.
The proposals seek to require the football industry to provide the necessary financial support.
Campaigners say existing support is not fit for purpose, including the Brain Health Fund which was set up with an initial £1m by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), supported by the Premier League.
But the Premier League said the fund has supported 121 families with at-home adaptations and care home fees.
From England‘s 1966 World Cup-winning team, both Jack and Bobby Charlton died with dementia, as did Martin Peters, Ray Wilson and Nobby Stiles.
Image: Neil Ruddock speaks to Sky’s Rob Harris outside parliament
Ex-players, including former Liverpool defender Neil Ruddock, went to parliament last week to lobby MPs.
More on Dementia
Related Topics:
Ruddock told Sky News he had joined campaigners “for the families who’ve gone through hell”.
“A professional footballer, greatest job in the world, but no one knew the dangers, and that’s scary,” he said.
“Every time someone heads a ball it’s got to be dangerous to you. You know, I used to head 100 balls a day in training. I didn’t realise that might affect my future.”
A study co-funded by the PFA and the Football Association (FA) in 2019 found footballers were three and a half times more likely to die of a neurodegenerative disease than members of the public of the same age.
‘In denial’
Among those calling on football authorities to contribute towards the care costs of ex-players who have gone on to develop conditions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia is Labour MP Chris Evans.
Mr Evans, who represents Caerphilly in South Wales, hopes to amend the Bill to establish a care and financial support scheme for ex-footballers and told a recent event in parliament that affected ex-players “deserve to be compensated”.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who helped to draft the amendment, said the game was “in denial about the whole thing”.
Mr Burnham called for it to be seen as “an industrial injuries issue in the same way with mining”.
A spokesperson for the FA said it was taking a “leading role in reviewing and improving the safety of our game” and that it had “already taken many proactive steps to review and address potential risk factors”.
An English Football League spokesperson said it was “working closely with other football bodies” to ensure both professional and grassroots football are “as safe as it can be”.
And that comes in the context of increased warnings from government and the security services about Iranian activity on British soil.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:51
Counter terror officers raid property
Last year, the director general of MI5, Ken McCallum, said his organisation and police had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents since January 2022.
He linked that increase to the ongoing situation in Iran’s own backyard.
“As events unfold in the Middle East, we will give our fullest attention to the risk of an increase in – or a broadening of – Iranian state aggression in the UK,” he said.
The implication is that even as Iran grapples with a rapidly changing situation in its own region, having seen its proxies, Hezbollahin Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, decimated and itself coming under Israeli attack, it may seek avenues further abroad.
More on Iran
Related Topics:
The government reiterated this warning only a few weeks ago, with security minister Dan Jarvis addressing parliament.
“The threat from Iran sits in a wider context of the growing, diversifying and evolving threat that the UK faces from malign activity by a number of states,” Jarvis said.
“The threat from states has become increasingly interconnected in nature, blurring the lines between: domestic and international; online and offline; and states and their proxies.
“Turning specifically to Iran, the regime has become increasingly emboldened, asserting itself more aggressively to advance their objectives and undermine ours.”
As part of that address, Jarvis highlighted the National Security Act 2023, which “criminalises assisting a foreign intelligence service”, among other things.
So it was notable that this was the act used in one of this weekend’s investigations.
The suspects were detained under section 27 of the same act, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.