Nigerian Health Professional Jailed For Sexually Assaulting Patient In UK

A Nigerian health professional, Adewale Kudabo, has been jailed for sexually assaulting a patient at York Hospital 9 months after arriving the United Kingdom.

According to reports, the 47-year-old assaulted the woman when she was “particularly vulnerable” owing to a serious health condition which made her effectively immobile, York Crown Court heard.

Kudabo, a married family man, kissed the patient on the lips and against her will while she was lying in bed and barely able to move due to her condition.

Prosecutor Henry Fernandez said that on the first occasion, Kudabo kissed the woman after giving her a bed bath. She tried to pull her head away to avoid the assault but to no avail.

On the second occasion a few days later, the victim refused Kudabo’s offer of a bed bath, whereupon he bent down and kissed her again as she was laid helpless on her hospital bed.

The incidents occurred at a time when she was in “a lot of pain” due to her health condition which made it near impossible for her to move.

Kudabo, who lives in the South Bank area of York near Bishopthorpe Road, appeared for sentence on 10 June, 2025 after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual assault.

Mr Fernandez said the incidents occurred just nine months after Kudabo arrived in the UK from Nigeria.

He was working as a health assistant at the hospital at the time of the offences.

The victim ultimately reported the matters to police and Kudabo was brought in for questioning.

He told officers that what he had done was “in keeping with his job” and said he had kissed the woman on the forehead, not the lips.

He claimed he had acted out of “sympathy” for the woman and the condition she was in.

In a statement read out by the prosecution, the victim said she had since been “living with feelings of helplessness, fear and loss of trust” in people. She had suffered anxiety attacks, depression and flashbacks to the incidents.

“The trauma continues to impact her on a daily basis,” said Mr Fernandez

Defence barrister Jerry Sodipe said that Kudabo accepted that his actions were “inappropriate”.

Kudabo was handed a 12-month jail sentence but was told he would serve only half of that before being released.