Mental health ward carer is cleared of sex charges

A carer who stood trial after he denied engaging in sexual activity with a mental health patient has been cleared of all charges against him.

Alec Wallbank, 31, has been found not guilty of six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder – offences he denied from the outset.

Prosecutors alleged the care worker had sex with a patient he met on a psychiatric ward.

It was alleged he met the woman for sex in a hotel after she had been discharged.

Lowri Wynn Morgan, prosecuting, said Mr Wallbank “developed feelings” for the woman while she was on a psychiatric ward.

She told the court the relationship became “romantic”.

Prosecutors said the worker met up with the woman outside hospital when she was given leave and the pair kissed during his day off.

Mr Wallbank was alleged to have had sex with the complainant twice after she was discharged from Whitchurch Hospital, in Cardiff.

His case was originally listed for trial at Cardiff Crown Court in January, when he faced six charges.

When the trial was part-heard, Judge Thomas Crowther QC directed the jury to find the defendant not guilty on counts three and four.

The counts related to an allegation that Mr Wallbank had sex with the complainant over two days in a hotel in the city.

In evidence, the hotel manager told the court the woman visited the hotel by herself for a few hours.

Judge Crowther said: “I have to consider whether there is enough evidence that could convict.”

The jury was discharged the next day and the case was re-listed.

Mr Wallbank, from Phillip Street in Pontypridd, was due to stand trial again this week to face the remaining four counts but prosecutors offered no evidence and not-guilty verdicts were recorded.