A mental health nurse has pleaded not guilty to sexual offenses against a patient after being extradited to the United Kingdom to face trial.
Jason Forde, 56, denied eight charges at Wood Green Crown Court on Tuesday, including having sexual intercourse with a woman while she was a patient at Homerton Hospital in Hackney, east London, and engaging her in other sexual activity while she was under his care. The alleged incidents occurred in the 2000s.
Forde was extradited from Barbados and arrived in the UK earlier this summer. He faces charges under the Sexual Offences Act 1956, the Mental Health Act 1959, and the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The charges specify unlawful sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder that impeded their choice and being a care worker engaged in sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder.
Her Honour Emma Deacon KC has set a trial date for April 26, 2027, with an estimated duration of four days. Forde has been remanded into custody.
The mental health unit where the alleged offenses took place was part of the East London and City Mental Health Trust, which is now integrated into the East London NHS Foundation Trust.