The British patient, Anthony Wilson, had just undergone major surgery four days earlier to remove a cancerous bowel.
The Iranian, who was not named by the authorities, was an illegal immigrant who had been brought to the hospital by police in handcuffs and with three round-the-clocks guards.
News reporters did not say why the Iranian was so tightly controlled. But the handcuffs and guards would only normally be used if the man were assessed to be extremely violent, perhaps mentally deranged.
The Iranian will not likely be charged with murder as an autopsy ruled that the cancer patient did not die of strangulation. The Iranian only had his hands around the cancer patient’s throat for a second or two before one of the police guards pulled him away and subdued him.
The 78-year-old cancer patient had been battling cancer for three months. He was asleep when he was assaulted by the Iranian, who had been brought into the hospital two days earlier complaining of breathing difficulties.
After the attack, he was immediately removed from the hospital and taken to an immigration removal center, where he is awaiting deportation.
The attack occurred in front of other patients at about 8:20 a.m. October 17. The cancer patient was pronounced dead at 4:20 a.m. the next day. A post-mortem examination concluded that he died from septicemia. But an inquest has been ordered to determine whether the attack was a contributory factor.
The dead man’s brother, Jeffrey Wilson, 68, told the Daily Mail: “I was told his death had nothing to do with the incident where he was assaulted because there was no bruising. They thought he might have been hit in the stomach, but they said there was nothing to indicate that he had been.
“They said it was just a coincidence that the incident with the other man had happened and that he would have died anyway,” the brother said.
