A NURSE who kneed a 77-year-old Alzheimer’s sufferer in the groin and then tried to cover it up has been struck off.
Margery Murray launched the brutal assault on the “vulnerable” man at Crossgates Nursing Home in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, in September 2010.
A shocked colleague said she heard Murray shouting: “Do you call yourself a man trying to hit a woman?” before she kneed him in the crotch and kicked him.
In December last year, Murray was found guilty at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court of assault and attempting to defeat the ends of justice, after she told other staff not to report the incident.
The elderly man had complained about noise from the television, but was saying “that girl kicked me like a horse” after the assault.
Murray, from Auchinleck, East Ayrshire, was given 240 hours community service.
Yesterday, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) revealed it had struck off the 52-year-old, saying her behaviour was “wholly unacceptable”.
Pain
The NMC panel, which met in London this week, said: “[Murray] assaulted an elderly and vulnerable male patient, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
“She repeatedly struck the patient in the groin area with her knee, causing him significant pain.
“Ms Murray subsequently instructed witnesses who saw the incident not to say anything about what had happened.
“Later, one of the witnesses decided that she could no longer keep the incident to herself and as a consequence, the matter was reported to the police and a prosecution ensued.”
The NMC said her behaviour was “behaviour was wholly unacceptable and damages public confidence in the nursing profession”, and striking her off was the only appropriate sanction.
Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard last December that care assistant Amber Wilson told the court the man was left clutching himself in pain after her attack.
She said: “I got hold of his left hand and Marjory came forward and pushed him against the wall and held him by his throat.
“She didn’t need to do that because we had the situation under control.
“Marjory started shouting at him, saying, ‘Do you call yourself a man trying to hit a woman?’ The resident calmed down and the two assistants let him go.
Scared
However, Murray started shouting at him again, she said.
Miss Wilson added: “She said that his son had asked us to take his stick away, knowing that would wind him up.
“Then she kneed him in the groin, between the legs. He was in pain and holding himself.
“She was saying more stuff to him then she kicked him again.”
Murray later told Miss Wilson and another staff member at the home: “That goes no further.”
Miss Wilson took the resident to his room, but he kept saying: “That girl kicked me like a horse.”
Miss Wilson said she was cared to report the incident as Murray was her senior.
In February this year, Sheriff John Rafferty gave Murray community service for what he described as a “very serious” attack.
