'Nurse who drugged my mum could be released early'

The son of an elderly woman who was drugged by a nurse for an "easy shift" has said he is "distressed" to learn the perpetrator could be released from prison early.

Catherine Hudson was jailed for seven years and two months for giving nonprescribed sedatives to two patients and conspiring to drug a third at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in 2017 and 2018.

Brian Scott, whose mother Aileen Scott - now 77 - was one of the victims, said to hear Hudson could be released after only 19 months was "unacceptable".

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said prisoners were only eligible for a home detention curfew, also known as an electronic tag, if they had been risk-assessed and had 12 months or less left before their conditional release date.

Under changes brought into force in September, some prisoners can be released after serving only 40% of their sentence in prison rather than 50%.

The changes were implemented to free up capacity in prisons in England and Wales due to overcrowding.

Mrs Scott, from Glasgow, had suffered a stroke while on holiday in Blackpool and was taken to the hospital for treatment when she was targeted.

Evidence during the trial highlighted the "dysfunctional" drugs regime on the stroke ward with free and easy access to controlled drugs and medication which led to "wholesale theft" by staff.

It was described as a "culture of abuse" after police examined WhatsApp phone messages between Hudson and other members of staff.

Hudson wrote about one of her victims: "I sedated one of them to within an inch of her life lol. Bet she's flat for a week haha xxx."

The next evening, Hudson said in a message: "If bed five starts he will [be] getting sedated to hell...

"I'll get [you] the [antibiotic] xxx."

Mr Scott said: "It's really, really poor and distasteful to hear that [Hudson] has even been allowed to go forward for early release.

"The judge was very, very clear during the sentencing that she would spend at least half of that sentence in custody and then would be considered for release on licence.

"There's no punishment there, there's no justice if that's the case. And it also makes a mockery, I believe, of the sentence that was applied."

Mr Scott said a change in legislation was needed, adding his heartache had been compounded by his mother's current deteriorating health.

"I'm trying to move on. My mum is very unwell, sadly approaching the end of her life, and to hear that Catherine Hudson is trying to get out of prison is unacceptable," he added.

He said if Hudson was released early then it would suggest "the criminal justice system in this country... is on the side of the perpetrators, not on the side of the victims".

"She may be acting as a model prisoner but it doesn't justify what she did and she put public confidence in the NHS in jeopardy."

June Westhead was admitted to the hospital in February 2017 after suffering a minor stroke, spending three months in hospital.

Her daughter described what happened to her mother, who died in December 2017 at the age of 80, as "horrendous," adding she believed she was targeted after she complained about her care.

"[Hudson] never actually said sorry for anything she's done," she said.

"She just laughed all the way through when she was getting sentenced, which I thought was terrible, absolutely terrible."

Mrs Cheetham said she had been told by the probation services that it was a "done deal" that Hudson would be released early.

"I was told it was because she's been a model prisoner and she's no threat to people outside," she said.

"It's just terrible that they're letting her out and I could maybe bump into her in the street. It's not right.

"I'm totally disgusted with the judicial system for the heinous crime that [she's] committed. She's only been in 19 months and she's getting out."

Both Mrs Cheetham and Mr Scott said they would like to meet the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, over the decision to release some prisoners after serving less than half their sentences in prison.

The MoJ said anyone released under the home detention curfew must follow strict rules and was always monitored electronically during their curfew.

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