London: A 56-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of an elderly Indian-origin patient while both were patients at a UK hospital has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment.
Philomena Wilson, known as Brenda, was a patient at City Hospital in Birmingham in January 2021 when she is said to have launched an unprovoked assault on 83-year-old Vidya Kaur, who was also a patient at the time.
West Midlands Police said the elderly woman suffered a fractured skull and died from her injuries a few weeks later. Wilson was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court last week and was told she would spend a further five years under extended licence provisions, or monitoring, at the end of her seven-year jail term.
“Our thoughts remain with the elderly lady’s family after losing their loved one in such terrible circumstances,” said Detective Inspector Michelle Thurgood, from the West Midlands Police Homicide Team.
“They have had to wait many months for justice and I hope this finally brings them some closure,” she said.
The court heard that as nurses and another patient came to the aid of Kaur, they too were attacked and received minor injuries.
Wilson had been admitted to hospital after being arrested for assault and wounding another victim. She initially claimed to have no memory of the events that followed, when she had punched the elderly patient repeatedly and banged her head off the floor. However, Wilson finally pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility in April this year and has now been sentenced for the crime.
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