Stroke patient, 75, died as she lay helpless in hospital bed *content warning - sexual assault MNHQ*

[FightingtheFoo]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9563237/Stroke-patient-75-died-sexually-assaulted-lay-helpless-hospital-bed.html

"A stroke patient 'died after being sexually assaulted' as she lay ill in a hospital bed, an inquest heard.
Valerie Kneale had been admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital following a stroke and had later broken her leg when falling from a chair.
The 75-year-old's condition deteriorated and she died four days later.

A male hospital worker was arrested on suspicion of murder, rape and sexual assault and has since been bailed pending further inquiries.
Opening the inquest, coroner for Blackpool and Fylde Alan Wilson said: 'Concerns had been raised about a potential injury around the genital area.
'This prompted a police investigation by Lancashire Constabulary.'

The autopsy revealed that although Mrs Kneale did have a significant stroke, the pathologist did not think it was the cause of death.
Mr Wilson said: 'She said that was due to an internal and external haemorrhage which was in turn due to a vaginal laceration or tear.'

The pathologists' report believed it was caused by a sexual assault after she was admitted to hospital.
Mrs Kneale died on November 16, 2018."

I am just full of rage. She was at her most vulnerable and was failed, yet again, by the system. We should be marching.

How awful, totally vulnerable and I feel sick to think of the man that did this.

He’s out on bail FFS

I am without words. This is horrific. I wonder how many other women that man had raped that never got reported?

@yellowsubmarines

I am without words. This is horrific. I wonder how many other women that man had raped that never got reported?

This is what I'm wondering too.

There is no way that he only did this once.

This is so horrifying
Sometimes it feels like women aren’t safe from male violence anywhere.

Oh god, this is absolutely horrific, that poor poor woman. And god knows how her family are feeling, my heart goes out to them. Truly disgusting.

Hospital staff enabled him.

Out on bail? Why? What possible justification is there when so many vulnerable women are at risk?

Absolutely horrific. Poor, poor woman. What an awful way to die. There really is no place where women are safe from men's depraved violence. It makes me so angry and upset.

That fucking bastard, I hope he rots in jail. What the hell is happening in this world, this has made me so so angry and upset.

JFC.

Words fail me. 😭

He was bailed ? A suspected dangerous murderous sexually violet pervert was set loose?

Women’s safety really is of no importance is it?

And we get vilified for holding a vigil after being told we are responsible for protecting ourselves from male violence.

I feel so awful reading this.

That’s my local hospital. My mother has regular strokes. One of my closest friends works on the stroke unit and when the investigation into the poisoning was ongoing (round about the same time this poor woman was raped and died) she was so shocked and really quite angered as staff on the wards were being kept in the dark and they were finding out more about what was going on inside their unit from the local press. There was a policy of silence really on the wards. At the time we had a relative on one of the stroke wards who later died in there.

Worst of all, I knew the Kneale family growing up. It’s utterly devastating. And could have happened to any of our Mum’s here. If mine has to go back in there I’m parking myself beside her and never leaving. She’s already felt uncomfortable on mixed wards in the past. But a hospital should be the safest of spaces. The idea a staff member could do this is so awful and sickening. My heart goes out to the family.

There was also a case of a teenage boy climbing into the window of a local rest home in St Annes (very near where I live) who raped a very elderly woman in her bed. That lady also later died. What is wrong with these men?

This is horrendous! I have been reading about male violence on women for some weeks now and thinking, we need marches/ action. Some of the cases I have read about make me wonder if a lot of men simply resent/ hate women!

I object to the phrase “died after being raped”. That makes it sound like the two events weren’t causally related. It should say she was “raped to death” because that’s what happened. Poor woman and family. I hope it’s clear in the court case that the rape caused her death.

This is horrific.
This violence and entitlement is abhorrent.

Safeguarding MUST BE PRIORITISED.

Why is he on bail?!?

Poor woman.

I hope this guy gets life for this horrible crime.

This is absolutely horrific. I feel sick.

And he was let out on bail??? What the all in hell fuck? Really??

I don't blame the system, I blame the person who did it.

This is one of those stories where it's so horrific I struggle to believe it's true. How can someone be so wicked. It's just beyond belief.

@ArabellaScott

JFC.

What might help stop this happening? CCTV in wards? Having similar policies to schools, where nobody is left alone with patients?

CCTV would be difficult because you'd need to make sure the patients had privacy.

That poor woman and her family, like a stroke isn't horrible enough in the first place. Cases like this do make it hard not to wish we had the death penalty - and I'm normally 100% against it.

I don't blame the system, I blame the person who did it.

If the system allows this to keep happening I think it needs to change. Fast. And they need to be allowed to recognise who is male and who is female.
More here: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/03/blackpool-hospital-worker-arrested-on-suspicion-of-and

There are several investigations running at the same Stroke Unit.

I think rape like this (presumably easy to prove by DNA) should be punished by castration, manual, not chemical.

This poor woman and her family. There are not enough hateful words to describe the monster that did this.

Maybe male nurses and support workers shouldn’t be allowed to work on any women’s wards in hospitals. And yes we should have women only wards.

Prioritise safeguarding.