Irish police are investigating the alleged sexual assault of a woman in her 90s who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease by a hospital patient.
A middle-aged man was arrested after another patient on the ward saw him allegedly getting into an elderly woman’s hospital bed on Wednesday, December 18.
Hospital staff intervened and he was removed from the facility the following day, when he was arrested by Gardai and questioned.
According to the Irish Independent, the suspect said he was confused about the woman’s identity and said he got into her bed thinking she was a woman he knew.
The suspect was later released without charge, but a file on the incident is reportedly being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The alleged victim has not been able to give a statement to the police due to his mental state.
A spokesperson for the RCSI Hospital group told MailOnline: “The hospital attaches great importance to the safety of patients, visitors and staff, and is co-operating fully with An Garda Síochána’s investigation. “We are unable to comment further on an investigation into course.’
The horrific incident comes after it was revealed in 2023 that Gardai had investigated 143 incidents of sexual assault in hospitals over a three-year period.
Irish police are investigating the alleged sexual assault of a woman in her 90s who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease by a hospital patient. Pictured: Archive image of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease.
A middle-aged man was arrested after another patient saw him on the ward, allegedly getting into an elderly woman’s hospital bed on Wednesday, December 18.
Separate data revealed that a total of 12 patients were reportedly sexually assaulted in Irish mental health facilities in 2022.
Meanwhile, a damning 2023 report revealed that dozens of rapes and sexual assaults occur in UK hospitals every week.
Official figures highlight the terrible scale of the abuse: 6,500 attacks were reported in just three years.
They include gang rapes and assaults on children. The statistics were released today by the Women’s Rights Network, whose founder Heather Binning said they were “just the tip of the iceberg”.
In May, an Italian woman took her own life after being raped while lying on a stretcher in an emergency department.
The 22-year-old was awaiting treatment at the Vizzolo Predabissi hospital near Milan when she was sexually assaulted. She told the nurses, who quickly called the police, around 4 a.m.: “Help, I was raped,” according to the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Serra.
The suspect, a 28-year-old warehouse worker, was arrested a few hours later while sleeping on a gurney in the emergency room.
The next morning, the woman allegedly jumped from a fourth-floor window of the hospital. Despite doctors’ attempts to save her life, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect denied the rape allegation and told a local court that the sexual encounter had been consensual.
He said he “didn’t force anyone” and they chatted and shared a cigarette before they started kissing.
He didn’t remember how he got to the hospital and told investigators he had drunk a lot of alcohol with some friends and smoked some joints, according to local reports.