A TERRIFIED nurse had to take drastic measures to protect herself after being sent threatening emails and letters by a disgruntled hospital patient.

The nurse is now never without a panic alarm, is chaperoned to and from work by colleagues or security staff, and will not allow her children to have their surname on the backs of their sports shirts, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Patient Nicholas Richards, 58, was branded “twisted” and “obnoxious” as a judge jailed him for two and a half years.

Richards, of Brunel Close, Manningham, Bradford, had been convicted by a jury of two charges of stalking after targeting the nurse and then a male consultant doctor at BRI.

Richards had a knee operation at the hospital in 2013 but was not happy with his treatment and made an official complaint.

The matter was referred to the Health Ombudsman, which investigated and found against the defendant.

Prosecutor Christopher Dunn said Richards then took matters into his own hands and began sending abusive and threatening emails to hospital staff.

He sent a stream of letters and emails to the female senior staff nurse between June 2013 and April 2015.

While on bail for those offences, in January, he sent 38 emails in two weeks to the male consultant doctor.

Sentencing Richards, Recorder Toby Wynn said the nurse had changed her daily work routine, including the route she took to work, where she parked and the time she started and left.

She had moved her office to a less obvious location and did not visit the accident and emergency department at her hospital unless it was absolutely necessary, as it was too accessible to the public.

She did not allow her children to go near to the hospital or allow their names to be used in the local paper in relation to school activities.

The judge said her daughter suffered a rare medical condition. One of two specialists who could treat her was at BRI, but she had to go elsewhere in the country for her treatment. He told Richards: “She found your comment to the jury, that you would do the same again, chilling.

“Your correspondence was deeply concerning. You are the only person in court who was not deeply moved by her.”

Recorder Wynn said the defendant had not shown a flicker of regret.

He told him: “You have one of the most twisted visions of the world I have ever come across. You inflicted misery and feel no remorse for having done so.

“No doubt you will feel you are a victim of a miscarriage of justice by the dark forces ranged against you. But you are the author of your own fate.

“I bear in mind that because of your obnoxious personality you are likely to find prison exceptionally difficult.”

Recorder Wynn told Richards that if he breached the strict terms of a restraining order he would be brought back to court and sentenced.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s security management specialist Karon Snape said after the case: “The clinical staff in this case have been the target of a three-year harassment campaign which has impacted on their personal lives.

“They should feel safe providing care and treatment to patients without the fear of violence against them. We welcome the sentence, which acts as a deterrent to others and supports our zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour and violence and aggression towards our staff.

“The outcome demonstrates the effective partnership between the hospitals and police.”