Former nurse Stephen Board is accused of three sex attacks on women after or during operations at south coast hospitals
A hospital nurse groped helpless women patients as they lay recovering from serious operations, a court has heard.
Stephen Board, 66, is accused of sexually assaulting two women in the recovery room after they had undergone serious operations.
He groped a third patient as he held her hand as she was undergoing surgery on her eye, prosecutors say. He denies all of the claims.
Hove Crown Court was told the first alleged assault happened after a 20-year-old woman had been admitted to Worthing Hospital, West Sussex in October 2006.
The woman, who was suffering from a pain in her left side, underwent surgery and was in the recovery room when Board told her: ‘Don’t worry I’ll look after you.’
But as she recovered from the anaesthetic he put his hands under the bedsheets and groped her breast.
He allegedly asked her: ‘Is it okay if I do this to you?’
Due to the anaesthetic, the young patient was unable to respond or fight off his advances and Board allegedly moved his hand down under her hospital gown and continued the sexual assault.
Later that day, when she had recovered from the anaesthetic, she reported the assaults to hospital bosses and police were called and Board was interviewed.
He denies claims he groped the breast of a woman while she was still anesthetised
The second patient was sexually assaulted in February 2008 after she was treated at the same hospital after suffering an infection following surgery to remove an ovary.
She underwent surgery again but as she came round from the anaesthetic she became aware of someone rubbing her right breast.
She also later reported the incident to hospital bosses and police once again responded and interviewed Board.
The third victim, a 78-year-old woman, was sexually assaulted as she was actually undergoing surgery at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester in December 2015.
Hugh Forgan, prosecuting told the court the elderly woman was undergoing cataract surgery and, although she was not anaesthetised, she could not talk.
She was given Board’s hand to hold and told to squeeze if she wished to communicate while the delicate operation took place.
The first two allegations relate to incidents at the Worthing Hospital in 2006 and 2009
The jury was told that Board slid his hand under the covers and placed it on her breast before groping her.
Mr Forgan said: ‘He was groping her but she had no way of letting people know. During the surgery it was noticed she was very tense and was moving around a lot.’
She notified her family and it was reported to hospital bosses and police again questioned Board.
Hugh Forgan, prosecuting, said: ‘The women were particularly vulnerable. Two had just had surgery and were in the recovery room in the care of the defendant when they were assaulted.
‘The third had undergone eye surgery and was given the hand of defendant to squeeze so she could communicate during surgery.’
Board, of Bognor, West Sussex, has been charged three counts of sexual assault and one of assault by penetration on the first victim and two counts of sexual assault on each of the second and third victims. He denies all eight charges. The trial continues.
The third allegation relates to a woman who was 78 when she was treated at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester in 2015
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