Tom Powell
EXCLUSIVE by Tom Powell
A MENTAL health nurse who was sacked and jailed for torturing an 85-year-old dementia patient is giving Botox injections on the Costa del Sol.
David Hill was imprisoned for six months in 2010 after pleading guilty to ‘degrading and humiliating’ wheelchair-bound Dorothy Tunstall at a UK care home in St Helens.
Judge Robert Warnock told Hill at Liverpool Crown Court: “You grossly abused your patient’s trust, apparently for your own perverse enjoyment.
“You force-fed her, you flicked food in her face and you put her in a hoist and spun her around when you knew she was terrified.”
Hill, 52, was also struck off in a hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council in August 2011, banning him from practising as a nurse in England.
But he did not attend the hearing, with UK newspapers reporting he was working at a Botox clinic in Spain.
Fast forward four years and the Olive Press has traced Hill, now living with his wife in a luxury villa in the Atalaya development, Estepona, and working as a self-employed ‘aesthetic practitioner’.
But when client Natalie Rose discovered his unsavoury past via a Google search, she immediately raised the alarm.
“I’ve known David for three years, I even introduced him to people in Coin and helped him advertise on Facebook,” British expat Rose told the Olive Press. “When I saw what he had done in St Helens I was amazed, shocked and upset.
“My mum had dementia and he was so sympathetic with me, but now I am appalled, he must have no shame,” added Rose, who has lived in Coin with her family for 11 years.
Hill, who advertises on Facebook, Linkedin and by word of mouth, operates out of his own home as well as visiting clients’ both on the coast and regularly back in England.
The UK Nursing Council’s hearing report on Hill, who qualified as a mental health nurse in 1983, states: “There is no evidence of either insight or remorse.”
A spokeswoman for the Council, Ann Brown, told the Olive Press that by moving to Spain, Hill now comes under ‘the jurisdiction of the equivalent Spanish authority’.
“He cannot practise as a nurse in England but according to a February 2014 report, it appears non-registered people can still administer Botox in the UK,” she confirmed.
However, the Spanish ministry of health confirmed that only qualified doctors can administer Botox in Spain, and they must be registered.
The Ocean Clinic in Marbella also confirmed: “You need to be a qualified doctor to administer Botox in Spain, and registered with the Ministry of Health.”
When contacted by the Olive Press, Hill stated that he is a ‘fully trained and legal aesthetic practitioner’, working in both Spain and England. “I was told I did not need a certificate from the Ministry of Health to administer Botox and fillers in Spain,” he said, while expressing no remorse for his previous actions.
“I went to prison for something I didn’t do,” he claimed. “I pleaded guilty because my barrister convinced me I would avoid a jail term, but I didn’t.”
Firstly I offered to meet Mr Powell to discuss this 5 year old matter at length but he declined, which has resulted in inconsistencies. I don’t live in a luxury villa in Atalaya and I certainly don’t and never have run a botox clinic in Estepona.
At the time I was working for a large care provider as a clinical manager, my shifts were Monday to Friday. One Monday when I resumed I found over the weekend one female client had received a broken neck of femur (she was already confined to bed), another had scalding to her chest and arms and a third had extensive bruising to her upper body including black eyes. I approached the Home Manager who dismissed it as “these things happen in nursing homes”. This was my first experience of caring for the elderly but knew this was wrong. The first chance I got to speak with the Regional Manager was the following week. I started to discuss the matter with him and wanted to discuss the lack of training and the apparent disregard the home manager had and that maybe social services should be involved, when he cut me short and told me he didn’t have time now but would meet with me the following week however I was on leave so he said he would pencil in a meeting for the week after. When I returned home from holiday I found I had been suspended and a few weeks later the Police contacted me and requested a statement. It took a year to go to court, in that time my wife and I collated facts and evidence including the discrepancies between staff statements (6 gave statements 9 didn’t) to the police and the nursing council. On the day of pleading in court my barrister appeared to change track and started discussing pleading guilty, obviously a shock I wasn’t expecting. As the day wore on my barrister sat me down and said he had had a chat with the prosecuting barrister who stated if I plead guilty to one charge he would drop the other 2 charges. Also that if I did plead guilty I would probably get six month suspended sentence but if found guilty would be looking at two years. Also there was a co-accused (a 60 year old lady who had breast cancer) who apparently had decided to plead guilty as her health was failing and that was going to make my situation much more difficult according to my barrister and discount my not guilty plea. I think unless you have been in that situation in the confines of the court, with your wife and father crying and stating “we just don’t want you to go to prison”, it made the decision easier and I took the plea but still went to prison.
Mr Powell states in the article I said to him, I was told I did not need a certificate from the Ministry of Health to administer Botox and fillers in Spain. This is not true what I did say was I visited a gestoria before moving to Spain who said to me as I did botox and fillers in the UK as a full time job there was no reason I couldn’t do it here. Thankfully my family and friends including old work colleagues know what type of person I am and what I am and am not capable of.
This man needs to be investigated
He doesn’t need an investigation Rob, he needs a swift kick up the a***. It’s already glaringly obvious that he should not be practising any sort of health procedure.
You have killers and gangsters all over the coast and THIS is your front page?? So much for having guts to stand up for justice etc etc.
Thanks Jackie, perhaps you can tip us off about all these killers…
Well well well Mr Hill has your past come back to haunt you.? Not so easy to get away from it is it ? It’s your past & nobody elses. Whether its 5,10,15 yrs on it will always be with you. Another whistleblower needs to be congratulated. All these people have or have had mothers many with dementia. You are not to be trusted Mr Hill. You are deluded if you think you are innocent. I personally know many people involved in this case & sat in horror in the court room hearing the events. It’s not nice is it when your family are distressed but what about other people’s family? They don’t matter to you do they? You’re a coward & a disgrace. Police & witnesses are not the liars here. People will make their own minds up about you so you can try to dig yourself out of the mud as much as you
want but mud sticks so don’t ever forget that. The poor old lady is
out of her misery now but you still have to live with yours.
To all the good decent people be it in Spain or Uk don’t give this
man any of your hard earned cash.! Have a look at another website
http://www.youandyourwedding.co.uk/forum/hair-and-make-up/amazing-botox-live
then look at the heading Amazing Botox!! Liverpool/Manchester
general area. Now read the comments from Olivia 286 dated 12/01/
2012 & Sally 123 dated 17/02/2013. Now make up your own minds!!
Well said Stefanjo