Nurse tried to stab and strangle a young 11-year-old boy thinking he was the devil. The boy was saved by another 14-year-old boy who was also in the house.
A nurse working for National Health Services in the United Kingdom attempted to murder a boy thinking he was the devil. She suffered from an acute psychiatric breakdown.
Emma Thompson, the nurse who is 47-years-old, attacked the young 11-year-old child just nine days after her husband died. Her husband had reportedly died suddenly of Covid triggering Thompsons breakdown.
The former Torbay Hospital nurse reportedly strangled and stabbed the young boy 8 times with only a kitchen knife. She also tried to forcibly push down a vial of a prescribed drug down the boy’s throat. However, Thompson’s ruthless attack on the young boy was broken off due to a courageous 14-year-old boy. The 14-year-old was at the time in the same house with Thompson and the victim.
The older boy tried to wrestle the knife away from Thompson and sustained an injury because of it. After a great ordeal he helped the victim break free and took refuge with the neighbour.
Emma Thompson confessed to the stabbing of the child to police and psychiatrists. According to her it was her intention to send the 11-year-old boy up to paradise. While attacking the boy she also repeatedly called him ‘the devil’ and ‘evil’. Thompson had the the delusion that the boy was indeed the devil and threatened the future of the world.
According to the authorities, it was concluded that Thompson suffered from an ‘acute, transient psychotic disorder’. The disorder is characterised by inexplicable hallucinations, delusions and incomprehensible speech.
Court’s decisions concerning the nurse.
A Jury declared Thompson not guilty in Exeter Crown Court. This verdict was reached by reason of her insanity which resulting in her causing bodily harm and attempted murder.
Peter Johnson, the Judge presiding over the case, enforced a strict hospital order. However, restrictions on her release came along with this order. It also enforced a close monitoring of Thompson if and when she would be released into society.
According to the judge, the order was for her own wellbeing and not to be viewed as a punishment. He added that the case was saddening and a true tragedy. That the actions of Thompson occured when she was experiencing an acute psychotic episode. He believed that her hospitalisation was in the best interest of the public as well as her.
The advent of the covid pandemic increased her stress and anxiety levels the judge said. He also mentioned that her husband’s death pushed her over the edge as her mental health was already at a tipping point.
Her behaviour became more and more bizarre over a period of time. The psychiatrist agreed in unison that insanity was open to Thompson as a defence.
