Deborah Akinyosoye
A York Hospital healthcare worker, Adewale Kudabo found guilty of sexually assaulting a patient by kissing her against her will has been sentenced to one year in prison.
Kudabo, 47, carried out the assaults while working at York Hospital, the court heard.
Henry Fernnandez, prosecuting, said Kudabo was assigned to bathe a female patient who was in pain.
Although the bathing itself was not part of the offence, the inappropriate behaviour occurred shortly after.
“When finished bathing the patient,” Mr Fernnandez told the court as quoted by YorkPress, “Kudabo leant down and kissed her on the lips.”
Despite being in considerable pain, the victim managed to move slightly but could not avoid the kiss.
She was “left in a state of confusion and felt uncomfortable” by the incident, he said.
A few days later, Kudabo again asked the victim if she wanted a “bed bath” and once more attempted to kiss her.
“The victim attempted to ‘get away’,” Mr Fernnandez continued, “but was unable to avoid Kudabo kissing her on the lips for a second time.”
The court heard that the victim now suffers from anxiety and experiences flashbacks due to the assaults.
She eventually reported the incidents to the police.
Kudabo, of Count De Burgh Terrace in South Bank, York, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault on the first day of his trial in April.
Judge Alex Menary, who sentenced him on Tuesday, June 10, said the victim had “placed her trust” in Kudabo, telling him directly: “You abused that trust.”
The judge added that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate given the seriousness of the offences, ordering Kudabo to serve half of his one-year sentence before becoming eligible for release.
Defence lawyer Jerry Sodipe said Kudabo had no prior convictions and had shown remorse.
“He has held up his hands to say, yes he is guilty – he shouldn’t have done that,” Sodipe said. Kudabo was “moved to sympathy” by the patient’s suffering and believed, wrongly, that a kiss would provide comfort.
“He accepts his actions were inappropriate and unacceptable,” the barrister added.
Kudabo, who moved to the UK from Nigeria with his family for work, has since lost his job.
In a statement following the sentencing, the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which oversees York Hospital, said: “We offer our sincere apologies to the patient affected. Patients should always feel safe and respected while in our care, and we deeply regret that this was not the case. We acted swiftly and decisively, and the individual involved left our employment soon afterwards.”