Nigerian Hospital Worker Jailed for Assaulting UK Patient
A Nigerian healthcare assistant has been sentenced to prison in the United Kingdom for sexually assaulting a vulnerable patient just nine months after arriving in the country.
Adewale Kudabo, 47, committed the offences while working at York Hospital, where he abused his position of trust by assaulting a female patient who was largely immobile due to a serious medical condition.
York Crown Court heard that Kudabo, a married man, first kissed the woman on the lips after giving her a bed bath, despite her attempts to turn away.
Days later, after she refused another bed bath, he again kissed her while she lay helpless in pain.
Prosecutor Henry Fernandez told the court that the assaults took place while the woman was in a physically fragile state and entirely reliant on hospital staff for her care.
Kudabo lived in the South Bank area of York and had only recently arrived in the UK from Nigeria when the incidents occurred.
After the victim reported the incidents, Kudabo was arrested and questioned by police.
He initially claimed he had only kissed the woman on the forehead and argued it was done out of “sympathy.” However, he later pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault.
In a victim impact statement read in court, the woman said the assaults had left her suffering from ongoing trauma, including anxiety, depression, and a deep sense of helplessness and mistrust.
Kudabo’s lawyer, Jerry Sodipe, said his client accepted that his actions were inappropriate and highlighted his previously clean record.
Nonetheless, Judge Alex Menary found that Kudabo had “abused the trust” placed in him, stating that the patient was “effectively immobile” and “entirely dependent on others for care.”
“This was an appalling breach of professional duty,” the judge said. “Only immediate custody can reflect the gravity of your actions.”
Kudabo was sentenced to 12 months in prison, of which he will serve six months before being released on licence. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.
Nigerian Hospital Worker Jailed for Assaulting UK Patient