UK psych nurse who battered girlfriend loses nursing license

December 29, 2012

A nurse is on the run after being caught on CCTV beating up his girlfriend.

Malvern Kurehwa, 38, is being sought by Surrey Police for a separate matter and it is believed he has fled to Zimbabwe.

Kurehwa, from Rosehill, had pleaded guilty to battery of his girlfriend at Sutton Magistrates Court on October 20, 2009 and was ordered to pay a fine of £230.

As a result of the sentence, Malvern Kurehwa, 38, was told his fitness to practice as a mental health nurse was compromised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

He was due to face the NMC on Friday (December 14) to hear the panel determine his future, but he failed to show up.

He informed the panel in October this year that he was raising funds for a flight in order to attend the hearing.

A panel decided in his absence that he should be struck off the nursing register as: "The panel cannot be satisfied that there was no longer a risk of Mr Kurehwa's conduct being repeated.

The panel concluded that there is a real, current need for public protection in this case."

At the hearing at the International Dispute Resolutions Centre on Fleet Street, Central London, the panel heard about the incident which gave rise to his conviction.

On October 18, 2009, Kurehwa had called police from a phonebox in Rosehill claiming he was being attacked by his girlfriend.

However CCTV footage in fact showed him punching his girlfriend in the head at least four times whilst holding her around her neck before dragging her to the floor and pushing her across the road.

A report of the NMC hearing said: "In considering Mr Kurehwa's fitness to practise, the panel reminded itself of its duty to protect patients and its wider duty to protect the public interest which includes the declaring and upholding of proper standards of conduct and behaviour."

"The panel considered that Mr Kurehwa's actions are fundamentally incompatible with remaining on the register."

Source: James Pepper, "Rosehill nurse Malvern Kurehwa struck off after battering girlfriend," The Guardian, December 27, 2012.