Man who pretended to be nurse at Adelaide Hospital handed sentence

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A 24-year-old man masqueraded as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital has been handed a suspended sentence of eight months and nine days. It is a decision his family has called injustice to the safety of our community.

Transcript

00:00Brandon Chesney on the way to learn his sentence after pleading guilty to impersonating a nurse

00:09at the RAH.

00:10The 24-year-old was charged with several offences including assault, serious criminal trespass

00:16and dishonestly taking property without consent.

00:20The court heard he'd been an NDIS worker at the hospital before he pretended to be

00:25a nurse 13 times in 2023.

00:29In sentencing, the Magistrate Ben Sayles said you had lawful business at the hospital as

00:34part of your work but over time you became familiar with the hospital's layout, staff

00:39and began wearing scrubs and accept you would have given the impression that you were a

00:44nurse.

00:45The Magistrate said that while posing as a nurse, Chesney fixed ECG cables to the chest

00:51of a patient despite knowing he wasn't qualified to do so.

00:55He said the then 22-year-old also performed a finger prick test on her and removed a cannula.

01:01The Magistrate also said Chesney's offending was troubling to the wider community.

01:06He said it is understandable that your offending would cause concern among the public who might

01:12never imagine that they could attend a hospital and be treated by an unqualified person pretending

01:18to be a nurse or a doctor.

01:20Chesney was handed a suspended sentence of eight months and given a two-year good behaviour

01:25bond.

01:26But some family members don't believe justice has been served.

01:31In a statement, a family member said, I believe he isn't remorseful for his actions.

01:36I believe there is an injustice to the safety of our community by having him walk free today.

01:42The 24-year-old left court stony-faced with nothing to say.

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