Broadmoor carer admits having sex with rapist patient

A 31-year-old care worker at Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire has admitted having sex with a mentally-ill patient.

Rhoda Sibanda developed a relationship with a rapist. She is alleged to have committed the offences between 1 June and 28 August last year.

Sibanda pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder by a care worker.

The Bracknell mother was given a six-month suspended prison sentence.

Judge Julian Hall, who suspended Sibanda's sentence for a year, also gave her a one-year supervision order and told her to sign the sex offenders register.

She was also ordered to pay £250 costs at Oxford Crown Court on Monday.

Entered patient's room

Judge Hall told her: "You should have been in control of what you did and you should have, at the very least, told your supervisors what was happening."

Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson said Sibanda developed a relationship with the man, who suffers from severe personality disorder, after she was transferred to his ward and became his primary carer.

In an interview the patient, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "I said that I loved her and she replied saying that she loved me.

"She told me to wait until she was on night duty so we could see each other in more intimate circumstances."

Mr Ward-Jackson said on the two occasions relating to the charges, Sibanda contravened the rules of the hospital by entering the patient's room at night.

He said a therapy assistant noticed the pair walking towards a laundry room in an area where patients are not normally permitted to be.

The court heard Sibanda was suspended and later sacked for breaching security protocols.