A MENTAL health nurse who threatened his wife with an axe and attacked three police officers has been allowed to remain on the nursing register.
Tanyaradzwa Mhangami, who worked at Priory Hospital in Chelmsford in Essex, brandished a metal pole and told his son “let’s go beat mum up” before threatening her with an axe.
The 41-year-old then lashed out at police officers who arrived at his address in Braintree, Essex and tasered him during the outburst in 2019.
Despite this, the Nursing and Midwifery Council [NMC] last week decided not to strike him off the register but suspended him for twelve months instead.
Mr Mhangami was convicted of affray at Chelmsford Crown Court in October 2019 and was handed a two year suspended jail sentence.
He was also found guilty of assaulting three emergency workers and handed 120 hours of community service.
Details of the hearing which were published this week by the NMC highlighting their decision not to remove Mr Mhangami from the nursing register.
The charges, which were all admitted by Mr Mhangami and found proved, read: “That you, a registered nurse.
“On 14th October 2019 at the Crown Court sitting at Chelmsford were convicted of four criminal offences.
“Namely: Affray, assault by beating of an emergency worker, assault by beating of an emergency worker, assault by beating of an emergency worker.
“In light of the above, your fitness to practise is impaired by reason of your conviction.”
In their decision, the NMC said they found Mr Mhangami’s behaviour which led to the conviction “out of character”.
This ultimately led to the NMC deciding to suspend the mental health nurse as opposed to striking him off completely, concluding that a striking off would be “disproportionate”.
In their decision, the NMC said: “Having found Mr Mhangami’s fitness to practise currently impaired.
“The panel determined that a suspension order for a period of 12 months was appropriate in this case to mark the seriousness of the misconduct.
“At the end of the period of suspension, another panel will review the order.
“At the review hearing the panel may revoke the order, or it may confirm the order, or it may replace the order with another order.
“The panel was of the view that the risk of Mr Mhangami repeating his behaviour was low.
“The panel also took into account the numerous positive testimonials provided by Mr Mhangami which attest to his character.
“The panel was satisfied that in this case, the behaviour was not fundamentally incompatible with remaining on the register.”
They added: “The parties identify the following mitigating features in this case are [that]the registrant has no previous regulatory concerns in a lengthy nursing career.
“The conduct occurred outside of work and no patient harm was caused and the registrant made early admissions, has demonstrated genuine remorse and insight, and has taken remedial steps to address the underlying causes which led to his conviction, which include his health.”
The regulator also made reference to Mr Mhangami completing community service, attending rehabilitation and attending a Building Better Relationships programme.
The incident in question happened when Mr Mhangami returned home from work in August 2019 and got into a verbal argument with his wife.
He indicated to his wife that he had been having an affair before threatening to stab her.
The argument escalated and Mr Mhangami grabbed a metal pole and told his son “Let’s go beat mum up.”
Mr Mhangami then took an axe and threatened his wife with saying: “You don’t want me to use this on you.”
After cops arrived on the scene, Mr Mhangami held one of his children in one arm and knife in the other making a gesture that he was going to slit his own throat to police.
He was then tasered by officers, after this he started lashing out aggressively kicking one officer in the chest and another in the leg.
Mr Mhangami was then taken to a nearby hospital where he spat in the face of another officer.
According to Mr Mhangami, his work as a nurse had taken a toll on his body and he was diagnosed with depression.
Posting onto his Facebook page last year, Mr Mhangami said: “I lost the drive and energy to keep working as a nurse. I had no choice but to continue as I had bills to pay.
“The lack of rest took its toll on my body and I started to experience memory loss, fatigue and I was diagnosed with depression.
“On the 23rd of August 2019 I was arrested following an incident that was a direct result of a mental breakdown.
“I was given a suspended sentence following my conviction and also suspended from my role by the NMC.”
Mr Mhangami now works as a business consultant for his own consultation agency.
