SICKENING
Thieving nurse caught on CCTV swigging liquid codeine meant for children with cancer
A NURSE who survived leukaemia three times as a child was caught swigging medicine meant for young cancer patients.
Laura Howe, 32, was filmed on CCTV drinking liquid codeine on duty, then topping the bottle up with water.
Howe admitted diluting the codeine – meant for pain relief on the children’s ward at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary – five times over a year-long period. A court heard she took the drug to combat depression after years of gruelling cancer treatment, which left her unable to have children.
Jessica Slaughter, prosecuting, said another nurse noticed in July 2017 that the liquid codeine was not as thick as usual. Three bottles of the drug were then tested, and results showed they were as low as a quarter of the strength they should have been. Miss Slaughter said: ‘This led to CCTV cameras being installed to identify what was happening with medication. The footage shows the defendant consume liquid codeine whilst on duty and topping up the bottle with water.’
Howe was temporarily struck off, then allowed to return to work under restrictions. Miss Slaughter said: ‘The defendant was interviewed twice on this matter. She has throughout given a full account, full admissions.’
As well as the codeine, Newcastle Crown Court heard the nurse also admitted consuming Oramorph, a brand of liquid morphine. Miss Slaughter said Howe acknowledged there was a risk of children not receiving the appropriate pain relief, and of patients overdosing if they were given additional medication.
Howe, from Middlesbrough, admitted theft and an offence under the Medicines Act. Brian Hegarty, defending, told the court Howe was not taking medication from a specific patient, but from the medicine cupboard on the ward.
‘Throughout the period she was working on the ward she wasn’t aware of codeine being dispensed to any patient,’ he said.
‘The defendant makes the point it was something done very infrequently by her. It was whilst working and struggling to keep going as a consequence of a number of personal setbacks that she self-medicated.
‘This is a defendant who has suffered cancer no less than three times as a child, beginning at eight years old, having to endure many years of very significant treatment resulting in a bone marrow relapse, requiring her to have a transplant, chemotherapy, radiotherapy. She was [then] unfortunate enough to suffer a second relapse. Despite all of what she endured she chose to pursue a career helping [patients] when they’re at their lowest... just as she herself was when she was suffering from cancer.’
Mr Hegarty stressed that Howe had a ‘distinguished’ career and volunteered for cancer charities. ‘The defendant only wishes that she had spoken out about the difficulties she was enduring at this time,’ he said. ‘The mistake she made was to stay strong and on top of things herself.’
The judge, Recorder Geoffrey Pritchard, told Howe: ‘This wasn’t a one-off offence. It continued for about 12 months and only stopped when the hospital caught you in the act.’
He sentenced Howe to 120 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation work. She also faces further disciplinary action.
‘A number of personal setbacks’