“Too scared to sleep”: 75-year-old cancer patient robbed by nurse in hospital
A nurse at a top private hospital in Sydney allegedly assaulted and robbed an elderly cancer patient as she lay in bed recovering from an operation.
Janice Bennett, 75, described how she fought back a shadowy figure who held her down in the middle of the night demanding her PIN number for her credit cards.
“I’m 75 but I fought back it’s the normal thing to do … she kept holding me down and wanting my PIN numbers — it was like a dream ... some sort of terrible nightmare,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
The nurse stole Mrs Bennett’s credit cards, forced her to reveal ID numbers and then withdrew $1000 from her account from an ATM at a nearby shopping centre, police allege.
The attack occurred at the Specialist Surgery at Bella Vista on March 16.
Mrs Bennett was left so bruised from the attack she needed a plastic surgeon to repair the skin on her left forearm which had been torn from wrist to elbow.
However, it is the mental trauma that has left the biggest scar.
“I feel very scared, very frightened, I can’t sleep. The hospital was beautiful and the food and everything was lovely, I just can’t believe it was not safe,” Mrs Bennett said.
A 45-year-old registered nurse employed at the hospital appeared at Blacktown Court yesterday charged with aggravated robbery, knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime, and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage.
Her lawyer Margaret Malak told the court the nurse has been suspended but denied robbing the patient. She said a stranger handed her Mrs Bennett’s credit cards and asked her to withdraw the money.
“CCTV footage captures my client withdrawing money … (but) there is no independent witness and this incident isn't captured on CCTV,” Ms Malak said, adding the case was “circumstantial”.