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Morphine allegedly found in locker of NSW Health nurse amid anti-Semitic video probe

Police reportedly found the vial in Ahmed ‘Rashid’ Nadir’s locker at Bankstown Hospital, after video emerged of the Sydney nurse and his colleague bragging about killing Israeli patients.

Unedited video of NSW nurses and Israeli content creator released

Morphine has allegedly been found in the locker of one of the Sydney nurses at the centre of an anti-Semitic video where they bragged about killing Israeli ­patients.

Police allegedly found the vial in the locker of Ahmed ‘Rashid’ Nadir at Bankstown Hospital after the video emerged on Wednesday, 7NEWS reported.

A fellow staff member at the hospital was allegedly asked by Mr Nadir to empty his locker, but the staff member refused and called police.

It comes after Strike Force Pearl investigators raided Mr Nadir’s on Friday night, executing search warrants as they weigh up charges against himself and fellow nurse Sarah Abu Lebdeh.

Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh.
Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh.

It is not known whether Mr Nadir, who was born in Afghanistan and became an Australian citizen four years ago, was at home during the raid. Emergency services had rushed to his Bankstown home on Thursday night because of welfare concerns, and he was taken to hospital for ­assessment.

It is unclear whether search warrants have also been executed in relation to Ms Abu Lebdeh.

Mr Nadir and Ms Abu Lebdeh have hired lawyers and, at the time of publication, were understood to be refusing to talk with police.

NSW Police’s Strike Force Pearl – a unit focusing on crimes of an anti-Semitic nature – launched investigations on Wednesday, with Commissioner Karen Webb saying the full, unedited version of Israeli influencer Max Veifer’s recording of the nurses would be “critical”.

On Friday morning, Veifer released on Instagram what he said was the unedited video clip, which lasts 2½ minutes – writing that he had “nothing to hide” and would send the video to police.

Israeli influencer Max Veifer recorded the video. Picture: Supplied
Israeli influencer Max Veifer recorded the video. Picture: Supplied

In the shocking video, Mr Nadir told Israeli influencer Max Veifer he “had no idea” the number of Israelis who had attended Bankstown Hospital who he had sent to “hell”.

Ms Abu Lebdeh said she would not treat Israeli patients but “kill them”, telling Mr Veifer he would “die the most disgusting death”.

Speaking on Thursday afternoon, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the process had begun to do a full analysis on patient records at Bankstown Hospital.

“There’s nothing that is standing out, but that’s an ongoing process,” he said.

“I want to restore trust and faith, particularly for the Jewish community… We’ve let them down.”

On Wednesday, the family of Sarah Abu Lebdeh said she is “sorry” for her anti-­Semitic ­diatribe and was ­suffering “an extreme panic attack”.

Family of accused nurse responds to anti-Semitic remarks

“I’m trying to calm her down to see what the f..k happened”, the uncle said, speaking outside the young woman’s house.

“She’s been a nurse for God knows how long. She’s never done anything to hurt anyone.”

Ms Abu Lebdeh is believed to have graduated with a Diploma of Nursing five years ago and to have begun nursing at NSW Health in February 2021.

Liam Mendes
Liam MendesReporter

Liam is a journalist with the NSW bureau of The Australian. He started his journalism career as a photographer before freelancing for the NZ Herald, news.com.au and the Daily Telegraph. Liam was News Corp Australia's Young Journalist of the Year in 2022 and was awarded a Kennedy Award for coverage of the NSW floods. He has also previously worked as a producer for Channel Seven’s investigative journalism program 7News Spotlight. He can be contacted at MendesL@theaustralian.com.au or Liam.Mendes@protonmail.com.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/morphine-allegedly-found-in-locker-of-nsw-health-nurse-amid-antisemitic-video-probe/news-story/61d6dbdb8778e360d626abf8268e6c75