Hornchurch nurse jailed over care home sexual assault

A care home nurse from Hornchurch who pinned an 18-year-old colleague to the wall and forced her to touch him was today jailed for 15 months.

Walter Khumalo, 44, of Liphook Close, trapped the care assistant at the Newham facility and began rubbing her all over her body.

When she tried to scream he put his hand over her mouth before dragging her across the corridor into a different room where he pinned her against the door, unzipped his trousers and put her hand on his penis.

Khumalo had previously tried to touch another 30-year-old colleague, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard, but was told: “If you do that again I’ll knock you teeth out of your head.”

He had also tried to assault his younger victim on an earlier occasion but she managed to escape, the court heard

Khumalo denied the charges of sexual assault and battery but was convicted by the jury.

Rose Burns, defending, said: “He’s a man of previous good character and the effect on him and his family is going to be devastating.”

She added: “His reputation is completely shot, his professional life will never be the same again, he can never hold his head up again – he’s a broken man.”

Sentencing, Judge Nigel Peters said: “You were the senior nurse on duty and there are of course a number of auxiliaries and care workers there and you attacked one of the younger care workers.

“There was evidence before me of previous assaults, it’s clear that you’ve tried it on before.”

He continued: ‘‘You were grabbing her through clothes – her backside, her vagina, her breasts, but more importantly, you put her hand on your penis,” he said.

“I take the view that the fact your underpants were shielding your penis makes very little difference.”