Nurse at Sligo hospital admits taping patient's mouth Published duration 21 February 2014

A male nurse in the Republic of Ireland has pleaded guilty to taping a patient's mouth to keep him quiet.

Bimbo Paden, who is 39 and from the Phillipines, said he was working in St John's Hospital in Sligo, caring for five bays of patients with no assistance.

He admitted placing surgical tape over the mouth of 49-year-old Kevin Quinn, from the Ballymote area.

Mr Quinn needs 24-hour care following a brain haemorrhage 13 years ago.

Paden told police he was tending to another patient at the time who appeared to be agitated by Mr Quinn's continued shouting.

In his statement, Paden said that, in a moment of complete stupidity, he put a small piece of surgical tape on Mr Quinn's mouth and took it off when another nurse came to help him.

The court was told that Paden had voluntarily agreed to be suspended from the registry of nurses and there had been a number of investigations into the incident.

Judge Kevin Kilraine said Paden had an excellent work record and "made one bad mistake in his career".

He ordered that inquiry documents be made available to Mr Quinn's family and said they might understand from those that there were mitigating factors for the defence.