Healthcare assistant jailed for relationship with patient at Wiltshire hospital

A healthcare assistant who had a sexual relationship with a patient detained under the Mental Health Act has been jailed for five years.

Anthony Spence, 39, of Kingsfield Leaze, Bradford on Avon, appeared at Salisbury Crown Court yesterday (28/06) for sentencing.

He had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder involving care workers.

He was jailed for five years and will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.

Spence was working at Green Lane Hospital in Devizes when he met his victim.

Within two months of her arriving at the hospital in December 2017 they had started a sexual relationship, which continued after she had been discharged from the unit.

In August 2018, as the victim’s mental health began to improve, she realised the gravity of what had happened to her and reported the relationship to both the hospital and the police.

Detective Constable Steph Brazier, from Wiltshire Police’s Public Protection Department, said: "The victim in this case was, and continues to be, incredibly vulnerable.

"Spence took advantage of this vulnerability and his actions were not only unethical, but also illegal due to his role as a healthcare assistant at the hospital.

"The victim was very worried about reporting this to anyone as she did not think she would be believed.

"I hope this case gives victims of sexual offences, no matter what the circumstances, the confidence that they will be listened to and they will be believed."

Julie Kerry, Director of Nursing at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP) NHS Trust, said: "We sincerely apologise to the patient involved in this incident and commend her courage in coming forward to report this.

"As soon as we became aware of the situation, we took immediate action to suspend, investigate and then terminate the employment of Mr Spence.

"We take incidents of this nature extremely seriously and have strengthened and improved our processes to ensure we prevent a similar incident in the future."

Wiltshire Police would always urge victims of sexual offences to report these to the police. You can do this by calling 101, or 999 in an emergency.

Victims can also seek support and counselling from the Swindon and Wiltshire Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) - they can be contacted on the helpline 01793 781916.