Crystal Wilson: Patient punched ED nurse in COVID-19 swab fight
She was told by a nurse to take a coronavirus test but refused, and in a fit of pandemic pique, this Dandenong woman took matters into her own hands.
South East
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A Dandenong Hospital patient who punched an emergency department nurse because she didn’t want to take a COVID-19 test has been jailed.
Crystal Rose Wilson also hit the arm of a nurse at Maroondah Hospital after she had been refused a drink.
At the online Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday the Dandenong 25-year-old pleaded guilty to a series of assault, theft, criminal damage and bail breach charges.
The court heard she was admitted to the Dandenong Hospital emergency department on January 18 this year, and wasn’t happy when told she needed to have a coronavirus swab.
A Code Grey was called and when a nurse attended she punched her in the forehead.
She then tried to bite another nurse before security came and managed to restrain her in shackles.
In January 2019 she walked into Kmart at Dandenong Plaza with a suitcase, filling it with $473 worth of clothing before she was confronted by security and fled, leaving the suitcase behind.
In August 2019 she walked into a stranger’s home in Dandenong demanding she be allowed to take a shower before cops were called and she was arrested in a nearby street.
In July last she burst into a Dandenong motel room and stole a man’s can of coke and defecated and vomited all over his room.
And in October last year she took 148 cosmetic items worth $1332 from Coles in Collingwood, but was arrested as she tried to leave.
A majority of these crimes were committed while she was on bail and she had already spent stints inside jail for other assaults and thefts.
Her defence lawyer said his client had longstanding psychiatric and substance abuse issues which were the factors behind her offending.
He said she was mentally unwell or under the influence during the assaults and the thefts, and she didn’t realise trespassing into a stranger’s house for a shower was a crime.
Magistrate Michael Smith said there was no point in fining her as she wouldn’t be able to pay, and he doubted a community corrections order would achieve anything.
“I have real doubts she would comply with an order, she will breach and find herself back in court,” Mr Smith said.
“Taking into account her history and criminal priors, there are very few options.
“In fact there is only one option.”
Wilson was jailed for two months, minus 30 days she has already served on remand.
