A 63-year-old man at a major Sydney hospital is fighting for his life after being attacked with a hammer early on Thursday, with a woman detained over the incident telling a judge that the victim stole her brother’s ashes.
Viki Graham, 46, was detained after the attack at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and has been denied bail. She will remain in custody for at least two months after being charged with wounding the patient as he lay in a hospital bed.
Police were called to the hospital in Camperdown shortly after midnight following reports of an assault in one of the wards.
Officers allege that the 46-year-old woman entered the hospital and asked for directions to find the 63-year-old patient, allegedly telling a nurse that she “just [wanted] to talk to” him.
Police said that Ms Graham went inside the ward, dug into her bag and drew a hammer with a pink handle and struck the patient on the right side of his head.
The man suffered serious head injuries and was in critical condition following the attack, NSW police said.
“The man remains in a critical condition,” the police said in a statement.
The woman was arrested at the scene, taken to the Newtown police station and charged with wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which carries the maximum penalty of 25 years in jail.
The court heard that Ms Graham called out: “I smashed him with the hammer. He stole my brother’s ashes.”
Acting judge Judith Sweeney said: “This was a gratuitously violent attack. The facts are absolutely extraordinary.”
The patient had been in the hospital since January this year.
“Shortly after midnight this morning, a visitor coming in to see our patient attended the bedside of the patient and an unfortunate and serious event occurred,” Sydney health district chief executive Deborah Willcox said.
“I am advised the staff did speak to the person who came into the ward and there was no issue, to the best of my knowledge. There was a conversation had between that person and the staff, and they went to the bedside of the patient,” Ms Willcox told reporters outside the hospital on Thursday.
“Our patient is well-known to the staff. Our primary interest is his well-being. The hospital ward had a number of other patients in our care.”
Ms Willcox said that “no other patients were impacted”.
“We have attended to all of the patients in the ward just to debrief with them and make sure they’re OK. Everybody is OK,” she said.
Although the hospital had set visiting hours, Ms Willcox said the buildings were accessible around the clock. “Our hospital is an open public building where people can gain access anytime of the day or the evening,” she pointed out. “We do whatever we can to enable people and visitors and friends and loved ones to see the patients.”
“This is extremely unsettling,” one unidentified doctor at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald. “I have never in my many years of practice here have ever heard of such a thing [happening] here.”
Ms Graham’s lawyers did try to seek her release, arguing that she suffered from anxiety and had nerve damage in her right arm. However, the judge found there were no conditions that could sufficiently reduce the risk she poses to the community.
Ms Graham is now due to appear at the Downing Centre local court on 4 June.
