A hospital patient groped a nurse, laughed and played a Bob Marley song on his mobile phone.
Shankar Singh sexually assaulted the Royal Liverpool Hospital worker as she was tending to him after he had been admitted as an inpatient. Despite the dad's vile actions, which left her "worried and frightened", she courageously continued to provide her attacker with treatment in the interests of his health and wellbeing.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Thursday, that the 35-year-old was in hospital last year due to cellulitis when the member of staff was leaning over him in order to fit a canula. As she did so, Singh grabbed her by the breasts, laughed and played No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley and the Wailers on his phone before saying "this could have been us".
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The complainant was "shocked and froze", and "did not know how to respond". Despite the shocking attack, she continued to secure the canula as it was by now in the defendant's vein and would have caused bleeding if had fallen out.
Cheryl Mottram, prosecuting, read out a statement on behalf of the victim in which she described herself as being "cautious" when walking around the hospital alone, while she no longer goes running. The NHS worker added: "I overthink and worry about performing care along with male patients.
"I sometimes feel frightened I will be trapped in a room. I don't just feel scared in the hospital, but outside too.
"I constantly question whether I could have done anything different and if I could have done more to protect patients and staff. For a while, I lost confidence in my ability as a nurse and it took a lot of time and effort to overcome this."
Singh, of Hansen Street in Cardiff, has two previous convictions for three offences. The divorcee was fined for a public order offence and failing to surrender to bail in September 2021, then received a community order for a communications offence in December last year.
He was found guilty of one count of sexual assault by a jury following a trial. Michael Scholes, defending, described his client, who lives in a hostel, as "long-standing homeless".
Singh also suffers from a "neurological impairment" and has a low IQ, the court was told. But he was described in references as "compassionate, trustworthy, respectful, polite, insightful and wise".
Mr Scholes added: "All of this was utterly out of character. There was clearly some sort of crisis in the defendant's life at the time.
"There is a pattern of bizarre behaviour over a relatively short period of time, which included the assault. There seem to have been family problems at the time.
"He considers himself to have been wrongly convicted, but accepts that he has to be sentenced. This was literally a one-off incident.
"He has been able to keep out of trouble. He has simply got on with his life and done as best as he can."
Singh was jailed for eight months, handed a 10-year notification requirement and told to pay a victim surcharge. Sentencing, Judge Anil Murray said: "She kept thinking of helping you even after you assaulted her.
"I am sure you knew exactly what you were doing and that it was wrong. What you did had a significant impact on her.
"You clearly know the difference between right and wrong. I am satisfied that this is a case where your learning difficulties do not reduce your culpability.
"This was someone doing her job to help you. You maintain your innocence and say you are the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
"You sought sexual gratification from someone you thought couldn't stop you then lied about your behaviour in an effort to escape punishment. You take no responsibility and show no remorse.
"You prioritised your own wonts over that of your victim. You wanted sexual gratification, and you took it."
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