A long-serving former hospital manager has had his nursing registration cancelled after reacting to a break-up by hitting his ex-partner with a horse whip and calling her a "Babylons whore".
Robert Richardson, a registered nurse, worked at the Braidwood Multi-Purpose Service Hospital from about August 2006 until September 2020, when the Nursing and Midwifery Council of NSW suspended his registration.
He had been a nurse manager for six-and-a-half years at the time of his suspension, which followed him being charged with three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
In October 2020, Richardson was found guilty of one of the charges in the Queanbeyan Local Court.
A NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision, published on Tuesday, shows the offence occurred in May 2020, the day after his former partner ended their relationship.
The victim, still living at their shared place while looking for alternate accommodation, came home on the night in question and started making a cup of tea.
Richardson, who was described as irate, walked into the kitchen brandishing a horse whip and yelled at the victim, calling her a "Babylons whore" and a "slut".
He asked the victim to admit she was cheating on him and, when she refused, hit her right leg three times with the whip, leaving behind both bruising and red marks.
The victim retreated to a bedroom and called triple zero but Richardson followed her in, took her phone and ran outside.
By the time Richardson returned 15 minutes later, the victim had locked herself in the home to collect her belongings.
The nurse smashed a laundry window to get back inside and chased her around the home with the whip.
While Richardson was found guilty of one charge, he avoided a criminal conviction and was sentenced to an 18-month conditional release order.
The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission subsequently initiated tribunal proceedings against Richardson, seeking an order that his nursing registration be cancelled for 12 months.
It did so on the basis that Richardson had been the subject of a criminal finding, and also successfully argued the nurse was guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct on three grounds.
These were that Richardson had failed to report the fact he had been charged within seven days, as legally required, that he had neglected to comply with two notices sent to him by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and that he did not undergo drug testing in line with a condition imposed on his registration before it was suspended.
Richardson went to one administrative hearing in the tribunal but failed to comply with its directions.
He did not attend the substantive hearing, nor did he respond to calls and messages left by members of the tribunal when they phoned and invited him to participate in the case.
On Tuesday, the tribunal said Richardson's non-attendance at the hearing meant there was no evidence of factors like his current fitness to practice and whether or not he was remorseful.
"We consider that a period of cancellation is inappropriate," four tribunal members said.
"We suspect that had the practitioner appeared, exhibited remorse and demonstrated some insight into his conduct it is possible that we may have imposed a lesser protective order, such as suspension or a reprimand."
The tribunal ultimately cancelled Richardson's nursing registration for six months, effective from Tuesday.
