I was victim of sex assault as I waited in an NHS corridor
A WOMAN was sexually assaulted while sleeping in a hospital corridor because of a lack of beds.
Sarah Jane Palmer, 31, woke to find she was being molested by another patient as she lay on a bench.
The registered nurse had been taken in by ambulance after mixing alcohol with her prescription medicine but was told there were no beds and to take a pillow and sleep in the hallway.
She now plans to sue University College Hospital for failing to keep her safe after David Cabero put his hand on her breast and his tongue in her mouth.
The 26-year- old was found guilty of sexual assault on Wednesday and admitted he had been on a ‘two-day bender’ drinking wine, beer and vodka.
He was found lying in the street in central London by a member of the public who phoned for an ambulance which took him to the same casualty unit.
Miss Palmer, who has waived her right to anonymity, said: ‘A hospital is somewhere you should feel safe and be looked after. I was clearly vulnerable but was left alone to be sexually assaulted under the watch of staff including nurses and security. It felt like I had been abandoned.’
She had been suffering from depression and had mixed alcohol with her medication, including a beta-blocker and an anti- depressant. A concerned friend phoned for an ambulance in the early hours of May 9 last year.
‘I know I should never have taken alcohol while on medication but I was in a mental health crisis at the time,’ said Miss Palmer, a King’s College London graduate. ‘I am completely abstinent from alcohol now and fortunately my mental health is much better.’
CCTV footage showed Cabero getting up from his seat to sit next to Miss Palmer, holding her hand, stroking her and moving his face to hers.
The startling video shown during his trial showed nurses, patients, security guards and a police officer walking past oblivious. One nurse paused only to drain her coffee and put the cup into a bin.
Miss Palmer stirred at least twice to push Cabero away before falling back to sleep. ‘I told him to leave me alone,’ she said after the trial. ‘But I was in a deep sleep due to the medication and alcohol plus it was in the middle of the night.
‘He was putting his hands on my face, forcing his tongue into my mouth as I was lying there helpless in a place in which I should have been protected. Watching the CCTV in court made me sick.
‘I couldn’t believe his hands were on my face and he was trying to touch me in full view of anyone who walked past but nobody did anything to stop him.’
Bolivian-born Cabero, of Islington, North London, was arrested after she reported his behaviour to staff.
He told police he believed her name was Olivia and said: ‘Some parts of her eyes were open, some were closed. If she had told me “Don’t” I would have been, like, okay, of course. I’m a gentleman.’
Cabero, who is unemployed but has previously worked as a cleaner, fell asleep in the dock during his trial at Blackfriars Crown Court after getting drunk during the lunch break.
His Honour Judge Michael Simon remanded him in custody overnight following the trial’s first day and Cabero apologised to the court for having ‘a few cans of strong cider when I left for the break’.
Prosecutor David Povall said: ‘ David Cabero took advantage of a young woman while she was intoxicated and unconscious in a hospital accident and emergency ward in order to sexually molest her.
‘Clearly Miss Palmer wasn’t consenting to that and couldn’t consent to it. If somebody is out cold then nobody could believe they are consenting.’
Cabero, who has eight previous convictions for non- sexual crimes, admitted kissing Miss Palmer on the forehead but denied any touching was sexual. He will be sentenced next month.
A hospital trust spokesman said: ‘We
‘In full view of anyone passing’
‘Clearly she wasn’t consenting to that’
reiterate our apologies to the victim. We notified the police as soon as the allegation was made and assisted with their investigation, as well as undertaking our own.
‘We would like to reassure our patients that this was an isolated incident.’
Miss Palmer said she had not been given a formal written apology or any information about the hospital’s investigation.
‘It was a Tuesday so the staff shouldn’t have been that stretched they couldn’t have stopped this from happening,’ she said.
The NHS continues to struggle to cope with unprecedented winter pressures. In January, leading doctors warned the crisis was so serious that patients were dying in the corridors of overcrowded A&E units.