Vile nursing assistant attacked two elderly women in Scots hospital

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A nursing assistant who attacked two elderly women patients in a hospital ward was spared a jail sentence today. Calum Knox, 31, assaulted Agnes Ferguson and Ann Reid, both aged 81, while working at Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire, in 2018.

He repeatedly poked Agnes Ferguson in the ribs and syringed liquid into the mouth of the other victim exposing her to the risk of aspiration.

A judge told Knox at the High Court in Edinburgh: "These are serious offences as they were directed against vulnerable adults who were in hospital and in your care."Judge Fiona Tait said that in sentencing him she took into account that he was a first offender and a background report prepared on him assessed him as a low risk of future offending behaviour.She imposed a community payback order on Knox requiring that he carry out the maximum period of 300 hours unpaid work with supervision for 12 months.Knox, of Union Avenue, Ayr, had originally faced a charge of attempting to murder Ann Reid and another woman but was acquitted of the murder bid allegations.Defence counsel Lorenzo Alonzi said that Knox had faced "a very serious indictment" for a long period of time which had caused a lot of stress.He said that the resulting convictions following his earlier trial were "very minor".He said: "These are simple assaults - not to injury."The Daily Record and Sunday Mail have always been at the forefront when it comes to reporting crime in Scotland.But did you know all the ways you can stay informed of the top crime and courts headlines?We share live crime news and exclusive court stories as well as features and columns on historical cases, keeping our readers informed and updated across the country.Mr Alonzi told the court: "In my