By Angus Thomson
A Sydney man has faced court on harassment and stalking charges after allegedly sending death threats to frontline nurses, sparking a dramatic response leading to his arrest inside Westmead Hospital.
Police were called to the hospital on Hawkesbury Road just after 5pm on Thursday after two of its nurses received threatening phone calls, allegedly from Robert Steven Turner.
Robert Steven Turner will appear in Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday on stalking and intimidation charges.
Officers arrested the 45-year-old inside the hospital about 6.25pm. He was taken to Granville police station, where police allege he returned a positive breath test reading of 0.054.
It is also alleged Turner returned a positive result on a drug test.
He was charged with one count of using a carriage service to threaten harm, three counts of intimidating a frontline emergency worker (no actual bodily harm caused), and two counts of stalking and intimidation with intent to cause fear and physical harm.
Turner, from Harrington Park in Sydney’s south-west, was issued with a $644 fine for driving with low-range blood alcohol levels and had his licence suspended.
The emergency department at Westmead Hospital where police arrested Turner last Thursday. Credit: Dean Sewell
He was granted bail but later re-arrested by officers for allegedly breaching bail conditions by returning to the hospital in the early hours of Friday morning.
He was taken to Camden police station, but police did not find he had committed an offence and released him from custody.
Turner pleaded not guilty to the charges on Tuesday and will return to Parramatta Local Court on April 23.
Prosecutors allege he made threats to staff members known to him via a telecommunications device.
Under his bail conditions Turner must report to police three times a week, must not enter an international airport, and cannot go within 500 metres of Westmead Hospital or 100 metres of the three nurses.
A spokeswoman for the Western Sydney Local Health District confirmed police were called to an incident at Westmead Hospital “involving a member of the community” but said operations were not impacted.
Staff who spoke on the condition of anonymity, and were not at the hospital on the day, said the nurses who received the death threats fear for their safety.
NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association general secretary Shaye Candish said the union was providing support to members after the incident.
“Violence against healthcare workers is never OK,” she said. “Nurses make up more than 85 per cent of workers affected by violent incidents in hospitals.
“Our members have a right to feel safe in their workplace. The government must do more to ensure occupational violence and aggression is stamped out in our hospitals.”
Health Minister Ryan Park’s office was informed of the incident on Friday.
“The safety and security of our health staff is paramount, and any threats to our staff are unacceptable,” Park said in a statement.
Westmead Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in NSW and treated more than 76,000 patients in its emergency department last year.