Nurse collapses in court after being jailed for attempted murder of husband with insulin (2024)

A nurse has collapsed in a court dock in Perth after being sentenced to nine years in prison for trying to murder her husband who had been diagnosed with dementia.

Wendy Ruth Sym tried to murder her husband with an insulin injection in January 2021.

Justice Amanda Forrester said the 63-year-old's moral culpability was reduced by her "impaired mental state" caused by the challenges of looking after her husband.

But she said there was a need for general deterrence and sentenced Sym to nine years in prison.

She will have to serve at least seven years before she is eligible for parole.

Sym had been asked to stand for the sentence, and soon after it was handed down, she collapsed.

There were gasps and expressions of concern from some in the public gallery.

A security guard called for assistance as Justice Forrester adjourned so the 63-year-old could be attended to.

Her hand could be seen rising as the courtroom was cleared.

Insulin vial crucial

Sym, who had worked as a nurse, was found guilty of attempted murder after a Supreme Court jury trial in April.

Kenneth Sym, 69, had been diagnosed with dementia and by late 2020, his wife had become his full-time carer.

He was admitted to Joondalup Health Campus in January 2021, and shortly afterwards suffered a serious medical episode due to hypoglycaemia.

Justice Amanda Forrester told the court that an insulin overdose can cause seizures, coma and brain damage and Mr Sym would have died if it wasn't for the intervention of hospital staff.

An insulin vial was found in a waste basket in a toilet cubicle at the hospital and Sym's DNA was detected.

The insulin was of a type not used at Joondalup, but it had been in use at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) where Sym had worked.

Justice Forrester said while Sym denied she administered the insulin, she found that she took the vial while working at PMH in 2018 and used a syringe to inject it.

She accepted Sym was conflicted by a desire to do "everything" for her husband, who wasn't the "same man" she had married.

"You were in a state of emotional turmoil," she said.

Justice Forrester also pointed out that her husband was opposed to voluntary assisted dying, and said her offending "remains extremely serious".

'Out of character'

Mr Sym died from natural causes in March 2021.

The court heard his cognitive state had markedly decreased after he suffered a stroke in September 2020.

After this, he was diagnosed with type two diabetes and suffered a further stroke in early January 2021.

His ability to walk was affected, and he had difficulty sleeping, enduring paranoia and hallucinations.

Seamus Rafferty SC had asked Justice Forrester to take "carer's fatigue" into account, as a recognised psychological condition which impacted Sym's ability to make calm and rational decisions.

She "simply couldn't go on any further," he told the court, and this reduced her culpability.

"It had become extremely difficult.

"She had reached the end of her tether."

Mr Rafferty referred to text messages Sym had sent her daughter.

"I am stressed but mostly I feel very sad and alone," said one message.

Long decline

Mr Rafferty told the court Sym had her nursing job as an "outlet" until 2020, when her husband's decline became so pronounced that she couldn't continue working.

Mr Sym had been walking away from the house, getting sunburnt and having to rely on the kindness of strangers to return home.

Mr Rafferty said Sym would "clean up urine in strange places" and "retrieve her partner from across the road".

He said Sym loved her husband, who she'd been married to for about 39 years, and was devoted to her family and her work.

Her offending was "well and truly out of character", Mr Rafferty said, and there was a "low to none" risk of reoffending.

Outside court, Sym's lawyer David Manera was asked how his client was doing after she collapsed, and he said he thought it had happened because she was in shock.

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