Paramedic and fiancé pose as nurses to steal morphine from patients

23 December 2023 , 12:05

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Jessica Silvester has been struck off for stealing drugs from dying patients (Image: Kent Police / SWNS.COM)

A heartless addict paramedic has been struck off for stealing morphine and painkillers from "helpless" patients who were on end-of-life care.

She and her fiancé, also a medic, targeted NHS patients and raided their homes while posing as nurses to take their end of life medication. Engaged couple Jessica Silvester and Ruth Lambert were both jailed for five years for the shocking crimes, but now Silvester has been ditched after a misconduct hearing.

Silvester identified their prospective targets by going into confidential patient records through her job with South East Coast Ambulance Service, the hearing was told. Her partner would then dress as a nurse and go to their victims' homes where she would pretend to carrying out a "medication review"

Ruth Lambert was jailed for her part in the plot (Kent Police / SWNS.COM)

The pair had opiate addictions and burgled 29 homes in Kent during the coronavirus lockdown - targeting patients who were terminally ill, on their death bed, and in some cases people who had just died. The thieves also nicked a portable ultrasound machine worth £14,000.

At Canterbury Crown Court in January 2022, Silvester and Lambert, then 29 and 33, were both jailed for five years. But Silvester has just been forced to face the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service [HCPTS] for her part in the plot. As she is still in prison, she did not attend the hearing, but was struck off the register in her absence.

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The HCPTS panel ruled she took part in a "very serious conspiracy and campaign of burglary of some of the most helpless and vulnerable patients". The hearing heard that she began her descent into addiction with opiates in February 2018. In a report, it was said that the paair began their plot on February 3, 2018. It stated: "Silvester and Person L [Lambert] were jointly involved in the theft of medication and medical equipment, which included on one occasion the theft of a portable ultrasound machine (valued at £14,000 when new in 2008).

"From May 2020, Silvester and Person L also conspired to burgle domestic premises, where patients and their carers stored quantities of opiate drugs supplied by their medical advisers to assist with serious life-limiting conditions. In some cases, the patients were expected to die imminently, and the stolen drugs were intended for their end-of-life care.

"Silvester misused her position as a person trusted with sensitive personal data to discover the details of very vulnerable patients who were likely to have access to controlled drugs including opiate medication. Silvester passed this confidential patient information to Person L. Person L then attended the homes of the patients, dressed in clothes likely to mislead the patients and their carers that Person L was a nurse, gaining admittance to the addresses.

"Person L would pretend that a medication review was necessary or that the drugs had to be returned to the NHS. Person L would then distract the occupants of the address and then steal the drugs unnoticed. Silvester and Person L conspired together to burgle a total of 29 homes prior to their arrests on August 5, 2021, including the homes of vulnerable patients who were terminally ill, and in some cases the homes of patients who had recently died."

The panel heard that the crimes were "planned" and "persisted over a long time", resulting in "real harm to patients", and concluded: "The Panel is satisfied that, in being convicted of a very serious conspiracy and campaign of burglary of some of the most helpless and vulnerable patients who depend on the services of a Paramedic among other healthcare workers, Silvester has breached [standards of conduct]."

The panel was also told that since her incarceration, Silvester has not taken time to recognise her wrongdoing. The panel said: "She has not taken the opportunity since being sentenced to prepare any kind of reflective writing focusing on the harm that she may have been responsible for and the damage caused by her to the reputation and trust that the public place in the profession of Paramedic.

"She had not, despite hearing the victim impact statements read in court, taken the opportunity to recognise her shortcomings and to apologise for them. She had instead maintained a silence on the subject when corresponding with her regulator through the offender management service at the prison where she is confined.

"The Panel concluded that the risk of repetition is high in this case." Lambert has not yet appeared at a HCPTS tribunal, however records suggest she is subject to an interim suspension and is classified as 'deregistered'.

Paul Donald