Blackpool nurse and colleague jailed over drugging patients

An "evil" nurse who drugged patients on a stroke unit for an "easy shift" and a healthcare worker who conspired with her have been jailed.

Catherine Hudson, 54, was found guilty of giving unprescribed sedatives to two patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in 2017 and 2018.

She was also convicted of conspiring with Charlotte Wilmot, 48, to give a sedative to a third patient.

Hudson was jailed for seven years and two months.

Wilmot was sentenced to three years.

Evidence during the trial highlighted the "dysfunctional" drugs regime on the stroke ward with free and easy access to controlled drugs and medication which led to "wholesale theft" by staff.

Prosecutors described it as a "culture of abuse" after 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."

The next evening, Hudson messaged Wilmot: "If bed five starts he will b getting sedated to hell...

"I'll get u the abx [antibiotic] xxx."

The pair were investigated after a student nurse witnessed events while on a work placement on the stroke unit and told senior managers in November 2018, who called in police.

The whistleblowing nurse, who the prosecution had asked not to be named, told officers she had concerns over the use of insomnia medication Zopiclone, which can be life-threatening if given inappropriately.

She said Hudson had told her the patient had a Do Not Resuscitate Order in place "so she wouldn't be opened up if she died or... came to any harm".

Judge Robert Altham, Honorary Recorder of Preston, said the defendants had a duty to "protect and care" for these patients who were "as vulnerable as anyone could be".

"These defendants exploited them for an easy shift, for amusement and to exercise contemptuous power over them," he added.

One of Hudson's victims was Aileen Scott, from Glasgow, now 76, who had suffered a stroke while on holiday in Blackpool and was taken to the hospital.

During the sentencing hearing, Ms Scott's son, Brian, turned to Hudson in the dock and said: "The way you spoke about patients is beyond belief and nothing short of wicked and pure evil.

"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 judge also commended the whistleblower's actions, adding: "It was only as a result of her courage and sense of public duty that what was happening on the ward was exposed and stopped."

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.

Hudson was also convicted of stealing Mebeverine, a medication intended for an end-of-life patient.

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 was convicted of encouraging Hudson to ill-treat a patient and also pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal medication from the hospital.

Hudson's boyfriend, Marek Grabianowski, 46, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiring with her to steal Zopiclone and medication and perverting the course of justice by disposing of evidence.

Grabianowski, of Montpelier Avenue, Bispham, who at the time was a band seven nurse at the hospital's accident and emergency department, was jailed for 14 months.

Det Ch Insp Jill Johnston, of Lancashire Police, said: "For a loved one to enter hospital is often a difficult and worrying time for their relatives. For two nurses to behave this way is sickening.

"They were both fully aware of the risks, which makes their behaviour even harder to comprehend.

"Hudson's offending was particularly calculated, all while portraying herself as a role model nurse.

"This could not be further from the truth."

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