A healthcare assistant who committed fraud against vulnerable patients has been sentenced to 15 months in prison. Mira Solmaz, who worked at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London, used patients’ bank cards to make fraudulent purchases. Solmaz’s actions were described in court as “cruel, cynical and ruthless” by the prosecuting barrister, Vivek D’Cruz. One of her victims, Hazel Longhurst, said she “couldn’t believe someone could be in that sort of job with that responsibility and do what she did.”
Longhurst was taken to Barts with cancer in 2021 and was seriously ill during seven months of treatment at the hospital. It was at this time that Solmaz targeted her, along with another seriously ill patient, Todd Mallonee, who has since died. When police examined Solmaz’s phone, they found images of bank cards and other personal details relating to three other people, including a nurse at Royal London Hospital.
Solmaz, of Mare Street in Hackney, pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud and three counts of possession of articles for use in fraud. Representing her, barrister Charlotte O’Connor said her client was psychologically vulnerable and had complex mental health issues. During sentencing, Solmaz wiped away tears as Judge Gregory Perrins told her that she took advantage of patients’ obvious vulnerability in “the most grotesque breach of trust.”
A spokesperson for Barts Health NHS Trust said: “As soon as we became aware of the allegations against Ms Solmaz, she was suspended and an internal investigation launched. This was completed in December 2022, following the police’s investigation, and Ms Solmaz was subsequently dismissed.” Det Con Stacie Cottrell, of City of London Police, said: “Mira Solmaz violated the trust and confidence of two vulnerable patients placed in her care, where the families of the victims expected their loved ones to be looked after.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More