Ailsa stab nurse still awaits trial

A HEALTH worker accused of stabbing herself outside an Ayr hospital is still awaiting a psychiatric probe after she was charged with the “faked” knife attack.

Donna Maxwell, 46, pleaded not guilty to a charge of wasting police time by lying to officers about what happened after she was injured in the grounds of Ailsa Hospital.

Prosecutors claim that “on a number of occasions” she informed police officers, that she “had been assaulted and struck on the body with a knife” between November 22 and November 27, 2018, but prosecutors allege she had not.

The single charge against her states that she lied to the officers while at her Irvine home, at Ayr Hospital, and elsewhere.

The charge adds her actions “did cause officers of the police service of Scotland, maintained at the public expense, for the public benefit, to devote their time and services in the investigation of said representation made by [her] which [she] knew to be false, and did temporarily deprive the public of their services and render the lieges liable to suspicion and accusation of assault to injury”.

When her case previously called on May 16 this year, the court heard Maxwell was to be pre-examined by a Crown-appointed psychiatrist.

When the case called last week [Wednesday, November 2], Sheriff Mhari MacTaggart asked the Crown if they were any further forward and told “not very”.

After saying there had been issues with previous appointee, he added they have been making exhaustive inquiries and “going around the houses”.

Her first diet pre-trial hearing was deferred until next year.

A massive police investigation was launched which saw Ailsa, the neighbouring Ayr Hospital, and nearby Queen Margaret Academy, placed on lock down on November 22, 2018 and no one were allowed to enter or leave, for around three hours.

Maxwell spent two days in hospital recovering from a serious knife wound to her abdomen, but was arrested three weeks later.