Former Eldercare nurse’s assault charges dropped
Charges against a nurse accused of smothering her 93-year-old aged care patient with advanced dementia have been dropped.
North & North East
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Charges against a nurse accused of the aggravated assault of her 93-year-old aged care resident patient, who has advanced dementia, have been withdrawn.
Police prosecutors previously alleged Dorothy Roberts had been smothered with a pillow by her nurse, 40-year-old Natasha Lee Waters.
In the Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Wednesday those charges were officially withdrawn, 10 months after they were initially laid.
Ms Waters appeared before the court on the charges for the first time in December when her identity first became known.
She was sacked by Eldercare in April after the aged-care provider undertook its own “thorough investigation”.
“Eldercare undertook a thorough investigation and whilst we were unable to prove the allegation we erred on the side of caution and based on our zero-tolerance policy with regards to protecting our residents we did terminate the employee,” Eldercare chief executive Jane Pickering said at the time.
Speaking outside of court, Karen Roberts, Dorothy’s daughter said she had been told 24 hours before Ms Waters’s court hearing the charges would be dropped because of a lack of evidence.
Her mother Dorothy, who has been living at the Evanston Park facility for six years, has advanced dementia, is confined to a chair and needs to be fed by nursing staff.
Karen said she was disappointed the charges had been withdrawn after a “distressing” period of time for her family.
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