Tuesday, November 4, 2025 - A female priest has been convicted after attacking two UK's NHS workers while violently resisting her discharge from hospital, a court heard.
Sheila Sherwood, 56, who is ordained by the Old Catholic
Church, an independent denomination that allows women to become priests,
kicked a senior nurse in the groin and bit a security guard during a struggle
at Warrington Hospital in Cheshire on November 7, 2024.
Sherwood had been admitted earlier in the month for
treatment of an undisclosed illness, during which staff inserted a cannula and
applied dressings. When hospital staff determined she was medically fit for
discharge, she refused to leave and became aggressive.
Angela Blackmore, prosecuting, told Warrington Magistrates’
Court that senior nurse David Gallagher, the ward manager, informed Sherwood
she would be discharged on November 6 but decided to delay until the following
day because it was late.
“She was told she was medically fit to leave at 10am but
responded by being verbally abusive,” Ms Blackmore said. “Mr Gallagher said
that he went to extensive efforts to make sure she was able to leave the
hospital but the reason she did not want to leave was because she did not have
food.”
He brought her provisions to take home, but Sherwood still
refused to allow staff to remove the cannula. When nurses tried to do so, she
became physically violent.
“Mr Gallagher called for security and with their help in
holding Sherwood, a nurse was able to cut the dressing off,” the prosecutor
continued. “They had to use force to remove the cannula as she actively
resisted. When Mr Gallagher cleaned the small incision left by the cannula,
Sherwood forcibly kicked him to the groin using both legs, which caused great
pain.”
As staff attempted to move her into a wheelchair, she
continued to struggle and managed to throw herself out. Security guard Sean
Brien said Sherwood bit him “quite hard to the right hand above the thumb and
drew a small amount of blood” during the altercation.
Sherwood, who represented herself in court, denied assault
and claimed she could not have bitten anyone because she had no teeth. “You are
all lying. It is very upsetting. I am not listening to lies. I should not even
be here. It’s a false conviction and I am not happy. None of this actually
happened. I am not the only person that knows that did not happen. I cannot
bite with no teeth,” she told the court.
Despite her denials, the court found her guilty of assault
and ordered her to pay £420 in fines and compensation.
Judge Martin Nolan said the NHS staff involved had shown
professionalism in the face of hostility and violence. Sherwood’s actions, he
noted, placed both herself and others at risk during what should have been a
routine discharge.
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