Leeds hospital nurse stole and took drugs while on duty

A NURSE with an “exemplary” record stole controlled drugs and apparently injected himself with a potentially fatal dose while on duty at a Leeds hospital, a court heard.
St James's HospitalSt James's Hospital
St James's Hospital

Father-of-two Jordan Thomas’s life had gone off the rails after a split with his wife, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Thomas, 29, took four vials of painkilling drugs from a secure cabinet while he was working a night shift at St James’s Hospital on November 2 last year.

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Prosecutor, Louise Pryke said Thomas was later noticed to be acting strangely and attempted to give drugs to a patient who knew he was allergic to them.

The patient reported Thomas to other hospital staff, who found him slumped in the staff room.

Two syringes, empty drug vials along with a tourniquet were found in his pockets. He also had puncture wounds on his arms.

Thomas’s blood was tested and found to contain the drugs along with diazepam. Miss Pryke said the four vials contained a potentially fatal dose of drugs.

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Thomas, of Ledger Lane, Outwood, Wakefield, told police he had no recollection of the events and said he must have suffered a seizure.

Miss Pryke said Thomas’s colleagues had said he was an excellent nurse and were sad at what had happened.

Mitigating, Anthony Kelbrick said shortly before the theft, Thomas’s marriage had been in difficulty and he and his wife had separated.

Thomas, who has no previous convictions, admitted stealing class ‘A’ painkiller oxycodone and class ‘C’ painkiller Midazolam.

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Sentencing Thomas to an 18 month community order and 180 hours unpaid work, Recorder Kate Tulk told him: “You previously had an exemplary record as a nurse.”

After the sentencing hearing, Suzanne Hinchliffe, deputy chief executive and chief nurse at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Immediately following this incident last November we restricted Jordan Thomas from working.

“The individual has not been in work since the incident. We reported the incident to the police and referred the case to the Nursing and Midwifery Council who are taking action and have suspended him from practice.

“I would like to stress that no patients came to harm as a result of his actions.”

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