Nurse gets six-year prison term for dropping newborn, resulting in brain damage

BUSAN, July 22 (Bernama) -- A nurse was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday for dropping a newborn at a hospital in 2019, which resulted in permanent brain damage.

The Busan District Court found the nurse, whose identity has been withheld, guilty of professional negligence resulting in the injuries of the 5-day-old female infant at the hospital's neonatal unit in the southern port city of Busan, according to Yonhap news agency.

Public outrage was stirred after surveillance camera footage showed the nurse physically abusing a total of 14 newborns, including the female infant, by shaking and grabbing them upside down and dropping them.

The court also found the nurse guilty of child abuse, it added.

"Footage shows the defendant holding the newborn upside down, resulting in the baby falling on her back," the court said in the ruling, adding that evidence suggests the infant suffered injuries during the working hours of the nurse.

The nurse, who was released on bail, was imprisoned following the ruling.

The court also handed down a suspended sentence to a practical nurse and a fine of 30 million won (US$23,000) to a doctor of the hospital.

-- BERNAMA