TOMLINSON: NURSE SENT RACY LINGERIE PICTURES TO VIOLENT PRISONER

A nurse sent sexy photographs of herself dressed in her underwear to a psychotic prisoner, a hearing was told today (Thurs).

Gemma Tomlinson, 28, wanted to take ‘the next step’ in her  relationship with the violent offender, it is alleged.

She is said to have struck up a relationship with ‘Patient A’ while treating him at Guild Lodge mental hospital in Preston, Lancs.

He was serving a jail term for wounding with intent and was a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered from hallucinations and  delusions, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

Tomlinson gave him her phone number when he was discharged to Preston prison, kept in touch through regular letters and made inquiries about visiting him in prison, it was said.

Patient A was jailed in June 2008 and transferred to Guild Lodge’s Calder Ward two months later after his mental state deteriorated, Tom Hoskins, for the NMC, told the panel.

‘The registrant has accepted that she had feelings for this patient while he was on the ward and these manifested themselves in her giving him treatment which was less favourable than other patients,’ he said.

‘At any rate, his condition improved and at some stage in January 2009 he was transferred back to HMP Preston.

‘It would appear that shortly before he was transferred the patient requested the registrant’s personal contact details, which she supplied him with.

‘They struck up a relationship very soon after he was transferred out of Calder Ward – perhaps as early as the day after he was transferred  back to prison.’

In addition to regular phone calls, Tomlinson sent around 12 letters  to Patient A, one of which described a recent holiday to Amsterdam  and made references to prostitutes in the city’s Red Light district,  the panel was told.

In another, she gave him medical advice, said Mr Hoskins.

‘It wasn’t however simply letters that were sent to the patient,’ he  added.

‘The allegation is that she sent two photographs of herself dressed in her underwear within this correspondence.

‘It is very plain on the face of it that the photographs are sexual in nature.

‘It is unclear when exactly they were taken but there is some reference in the letters to them being taken and the registrant being scared to send them.

‘There is some suggestion that the relationship was also carried on over the phone and there seem to have been efforts to obtain visiting  orders.’

The pair’s relationship was uncovered when the prison authorities intercepted some of the letters and passed them on to hospital bosses, the panel was told.

Disciplinary proceedings were started in February 2009, during which Tomlinson admitted sending the letters and handing over her contact details.

‘She indicated that the reason for sending the photographs was because they couldn’t have a physical relationship and this was her way of going to the next step,’ said Mr Hoskins.

She also is said to have told Patient A she had been suspended because of their relationship during a phone call and did not wish to keep in contact with him any more.

Mr Hoskins said: ‘Patient A is described by his clinician as quite vulnerable to stress.

‘When under significant stress, his psychosis tends to re-emerge.

‘The way in which this relationship came to an end could have had significant effects on his care and well-being.’

Tomlinson, who is not attending the hearing in central London, denies all the charges against her.

She was dismissed from her position with the Lancashire Care NHS  Trust after a disciplinary investigation found her behaviour amounted to gross misconduct, the panel was told.

If found guilty of misconduct by the NMC she could be struck off the nursing register.

The hearing continues.

ends