By Sammie Jones-
Nurse Sarah papachristophorou has been jailed for stealing 1,000 pounds from an acquaintance, and supplying drugs to a vulnerable pensioner while working at the QE Hospital .
Married mum of two, Sarah Papachristophorou, a married mum-of two admitted stealing up to £1,000 from the 77-year-old victim, who was a close acquaintance of hers.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court were shown CCTV footage of 47 year old Papachristophorou stealing cash from the man’s wallet when he left the room. The exposed nurse had access to her victim’s home because he gave her keys to get in whenever she wanted. Interestingly, suspicious relatives of the victim set up a secret camera designed to catch the nurse in the act of theft. Their plans were successful, as the nurse thief fell for the well planned trap.
The CCTV capture of Sarah Papachristophorou in the act of theft is a disgrace to her, and tarnishes her character permanently. Papachristophorou, will have to be lucky to work in the NHS again after this very shameful offense. Nurses are usually expected to be caring with a high degree of sympathy, but this particular nurse must be of a different breed.
Her criminal offence is an embarrassment to the failed nurse and her family, who would previously have been proud of her.
CANNABIS SUPPLY
Papachristophorou also admitted supplying the pensioner with Class C drugs, zopiclone, tramadol and diazepam. The convicted nurse had taken the latter three drugs from Birmingham QE Hospital, where she was working. Papachristophorou had referred to cannabis as ”sleepers” in text messages discovered by police after relatives of her victim reported her.
ASHAMED
The 47-year-old former health worker, from Sutton Coldfield, was said by her defense lawyer, Daniel Church,to be ” thoroughly ashamed of herself” and to have since shown ”genuine remorse”. Remorse and shame often come with being caught and exposed, making her lawyer’s claim unsurprising.
Adding to the list of misconduct by PapaChristophorou, was the revelation that she often bought vodka to drink whilst caring for the man, whose daughter she knew from a young age. The shamed nurse admitted to having an alcohol problem, and had known the man since she was a child and had been a friend of the victim’s late daughter.
Her lawyer had appealed to Judge Philip Parker to suspend her sentence, but Parker declined to do so . He described PapaChristophorou conduct as ”odious” and ”despicable”,adding that she exploited her friend’s ”vulnerabilities”. Branding her behaviour a ”breach of trust”, judge Parker said the aggravating features of the case were so odious and despicable, that he could not suspend sentence. He jailed her for 12 months.