27 January 2021

Man sought over abusive comments to hospital staff

27 January 2021

Police have issued a wanted appeal for a 45-year-old man after a group of people became abusive to hospital staff after they attempted to remove a Covid-19 patient.

Surrey Police have released a photograph of Tobe Hayden Leigh, from Maidstone, Kent, in connection with the incident at the East Surrey Hospital in Redhill on January 21.

A video posted on social media shows a man telling staff that Covid-19 “had not been proven to exist” and he was taking a patient home from the hospital.

A medic is seen to inform the maskless man that the patient is being treated with oxygen, steroids and antibiotics for coronavirus pneumonia affecting both his lungs and warns him that if the oxygen were removed “he will last about half an hour until he dies”.

The man is then seen to be removed from the ward by security guards and, when asked why he is not wearing a mask, he states that he is exempt.

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A police spokesman said a number of comments as well as videos which were abusive towards hospital staff were posted on social media on January 23.

He said: “On investigation, these posts related to an earlier incident at the hospital, on Thursday 21 January, when a number of people, some of whom were not wearing masks, gained access to the critical care ward to visit a family member and were abusive towards hospital staff when they were asked to do so. They also refused to leave.

“Officers attended and issued fines to two individuals involved for breaching Covid restrictions and issued a breach of the peace warning, which resulted in the group leaving the location.”

Detective Chief Inspector Kimball Edey said: “We would like to speak to Hayden Leigh in connection with this incident, and the escalating abusive and threatening comments being made towards hospital staff on social media.

“These comments are extremely concerning, and are obviously causing considerable distress for those who are being targeted.

He came into close proximity with a patient who remains seriously ill with Covid and may well have contracted the virus himself

“The staff at the hospital, as are all NHS workers, are trying to care for desperately ill people in extremely challenging circumstances, and to be targeted and abused on social media in this way is simply unacceptable.”

He added: “We also need to track Hayden Leigh down as a matter of urgency due to the public health risk he poses.

“He came into close proximity with a patient who remains seriously ill with Covid and may well have contracted the virus himself.

“We are appealing for any information and any help we can get from the public to find this man so that we can deal with him appropriately.”

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