A former midwife who was ordered to pay $6.6 million to the family of a boy delivered in a botched home birth has been convicted of sending money to New Zealand instead of giving it to the child’s family. Akal Kaur Khalsa, 73, filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after the NSW Supreme Court ordered her to pay damages for negligence over the October 2006 birth, during which the boy sustained brain damage from a lack of oxygen. The boy subsequently developed quadriplegic cerebral palsy, epilepsy and an intellectual disability and will require a full-time carer for the rest of his life. A court estimate put the cost of his care at $6,140 per week when he is an adult. In a 2013 judgment, Justice Peter Garling found Khalsa – who initially defended the Supreme Court case before withdrawing – had been negligent in both recommending and carrying out the home birth. She was ordered to pay $6.6 million, including $4.24 million for the boy’s future care, but ultimately paid about $410,000 to the boy’s family and other creditors after filing for bankruptcy. In several months between the court order and being declared bankrupt, Khalsa sold 4000 shares in Telstra, worth $18,950, organised a removalist company to move household items including a $5000 painting to New Zealand, and transferred $33,000 to New Zealand to fund the purchase of a Toyota Rav 4, which was later transferred into her daughter’s name. Khalsa also sold a caravan worth $13,500, sold $2938 of fashion shares and transferred $25,000 from her ANZ account to a bank account in New Zealand. A statement of affairs, filed with her bankruptcy application, included portions that were false. Khalsa was found guilty of eight charges during a District Court trial this year, including disposing of property in the 12 months before bankruptcy, making a false declaration, preparing to leave Australia without her bankruptcy trustee’s permission, and disposing of property with intent to defraud. On Friday, District Court judge Robert Sutherland sentenced Khalsa to a 12-month community corrections order and 150 hours of community service after finding the “piecemeal transfer of funds” was part of Khalsa’s ongoing desire to move to New Zealand to be with her daughter. Judge Sutherland said about $410,000 was distributed to Khalsa’s “circling” creditors after she sold her share in a factory, including $407,000 to the family of the boy, $1272 to the Health Care Complaints Commission, and small amounts to the tax office and American Express. He said a victim impact statement from the boy’s mother described “financial loss, pain, anger, hate” and “condemnation” of Khalsa. “There is no doubt the defrauding of creditors is a very substantial contributing factor to what might be described as the angst, properly felt, by [the boy’s] mother,” Judge Sutherland said.
October 9, 2018
Blue Care is facing a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) before Fair Work Deputy President Dean in his Sydney chambers (Healy).
October 9, 2018
A nurse who stole a credit card from an elderly patient and used it to withdraw thousands of dollars has been fined but will be able to work again as a nurse in only two years. The Health Practitioners Tribunal found that Rochelle Mary Bain engaged in professional misconduct when she befriended the elderly patient and eventually stole $2000 from her. Bain met the patient when she was working as an enrolled nurse at an aged care facility in Pennington. From early 2016, Bain developed a relationship with the patient that the tribunal said exceeded the normal interactions between nurse and patient. Bain would run errands for the patient using the elderly woman’s bank card. This included buying birthday cards and presents for the patient’s family. On May 1, 2017, Bain took the patient’s bank card from her bag at the aged-care facility and used it to withdraw $1000 in cash from an ATM. The next day, Bain withdrew another $1000 and then returned the card to the patient’s bag. The elderly victim said she did not know when Bain had taken and returned the card and only became aware of the withdrawal when she received her bank statement. Bain resigned from her position and indicated to the tribunal that she would not be working as a nurse again. The tribunal fined Bain $2873.50 and suspended her from practising for two years.
October 9, 2018
Police were called to Jean Sandel Retirement Village about 8.30am this morning. An 86-year-old woman was taken to hospital after being hit by a car in New Plymouth. Police were notified of the collision, at Jean Sandel Retirement Village on Barrett Rd where the woman is a resident, at 8.30am on Tuesday. Ambulance and fire services also attended the scene. A Taranaki District Health Board spokeswoman said the woman was in a stable condition.
October 8, 2018
Police have charged a man with murdering a social worker who died after stumbling into a cafe in Perth’s southern suburbs with serious neck injuries. It is alleged the 50-year-old woman, who was reportedly working in the hours leading up to the attack, was stabbed in the neck at a Rockingham unit on Saturday night. She then sought help at a nearby Dome Cafe on Kent Street. Cafe staff helped administer first-aid to the woman before she was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital, where she later died. Police said Homicide Squad detectives today charged a 37-year-old man from Rockingham with one count of murder. The man was arrested on Saturday night and is set to face Rockingham Magistrates Court later today.
October 8, 2018
A specialist GP who lost his licence to practice explained that he never received training about regulations concerning the prescribing of S8 and S4 drugs The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) has won a case against a GP from Taree, New South Wales, after alleging professional misconduct relating to 19 patients. It was alleged that the medical practitioner, who gained his Fellowship from the RACGP in 2013, had prescribed drugs of addiction to 19 drug dependent patients in circumstances where he held no authority to do so. The S8 and S4D drugs that formed part of the allegation included fentanyl, alprazolam, temazepam, diazepam, buprenorphine, codeine phosphate, codeine phosphate linctus, oxycodone, morphine, hydromorphone, pethidine and anabolic steroids.
October 8, 2018
The Health Services Union and St Vincent’s Hospital (Melbourne) Limited have a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) on foot in front of Commissioner Cribb in Conference Room E – Level 6 and Conference Room F – Level 6 in Melbourne at 3.30pm.
October 8, 2018
Scalabrini Village Limited will front up to argue its side of a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) before Deputy President Bull in hearing room 11- 1 – Level 11 in Sydney at 10am (Ammerllino).
