A hospital worker sentenced to life for attempted murder after he attacked a stranger with a needle filled with muscle relaxant was not a nurse, despite being labelled as one, Nursing Times can reveal.
Nursing campaigners have said that the misidentification of 58-year-old Darren Harris as a nurse by police, prosecutors and national media is an example of why the ‘nurse’ title must be protected in law.
“This case is a good example of why the term nurse should be protected in law”
Alison Leary
On Friday, 11 April, North Yorkshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published press statements on the sentencing of Harris, of Amesbury Crescent in Middlesbrough.
Harris had, in January, been found guilty of the attempted murder of record shop owner Gary Lewis.
The court heard that Harris had injected Mr Lewis with a hypodermic needle filled with rocuronium, a neuromuscular blockade sometimes given to patients during surgery or intubation, in July 2024.
Shortly before the attack, which left Mr Lewis on the brink of death unable to breathe or move on the pavement outside of his shop, Harris had told a member of the public that he was a “cardiothoracic nurse”, according to court documents.
Mr Lewis’ life was saved thanks to the intervention of a neighbouring shopkeeper and an ambulance crew who rushed to the scene.
Police were called and Harris was arrested; he claimed on the day that he had injected Mr Lewis with water.
He was given a life sentence at a Leeds Crown Court hearing last Friday, with a minimum term of 16 years in prison.
In statements published after the sentencing, both police and the CPS described Harris as being a nurse at the time of the incident.
North Yorkshire Police referred to Harris as a “nurse” several times and in one instance identified him as an “anaesthetist nurse at an NHS hospital”.
The CPS, meanwhile, stated that Harris was a “nurse of 24 years’ experience”.
High-profile media organisations including the BBC, ITV and the Daily Mail have also referred to Harris as a nurse in their reporting of the case.
However, his former employer, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has confirmed to Nursing Times that he was not on the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register, and not a nurse.
Asked if he was ever on the register to the trust’s knowledge, a spokesperson said he “wasn’t a nurse”, his healthcare background was as an operating department practitioner and that his formal job title was “anaesthetist practitioner”.
Despite this, dozens of web pages from trusted and well-read sources remain live at the time of writing referring to Harris as a nurse.
Paul Trevatt, nurse and member of the Protect Nurse campaign, said the case was the latest sign of a growing trend of the nurse job title being misused.
Protect Nurse, which was co-founded by Mr Trevatt and fellow nurse Professor Alison Leary, is lobbying the UK Government to give legal protections for the title of ‘nurse’.
The campaign group is backing legislation that would make it illegal for someone to claim they are a nurse if they are not registered as such with the NMC.
Currently, ‘registered nurse’ is protected by law, but the more commonly used title of ‘nurse’ is not.
“We would not deviate from what is said in court when publishing information”
North Yorkshire Police spokesperson
Mr Trevatt said: “Nurses remain one of the most trusted professional groups recognised by members of the public, and so any incident or situation where an individual impersonates a nurse has the potential to damage the reputation of the profession.
“I am seeing more media reporting of individuals saying that they are nurses when they are not.
“As anyone can call themselves a nurse without penalty or recrimination, how do we stop them misusing the title?”
Professor Leary added: “This case is a good example of why the term nurse should be protected in law.
“It is important that not only the public have trust in those using the title, but that agencies and the media understand and can offer clarity and not further misunderstanding or misinformation.”
A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said the information its communications department published was “based on information presented in court”.
They said: “Harris was described in court as an operating department practitioner anaesthetist nurse at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.
“We would not deviate from what is said in court when publishing information, as doing so would compromise absolute privilege.”
Absolute privilege gives individuals seeking to publish information from court legal protection from libel, on the condition they report it fairly, accurately and contemporaneously.
The police spokesperson added that any queries about Harris’ professional credentials needed to be directed to the “relevant medical body”.
The NMC has been approached for comment.
A South Tees NHS trust spokesperson confirmed to Nursing Times that Harris’ employment at the organisation was terminated in August 2024, and that a “thorough internal review” of the storage of medicines was carried out following the attack.
However, the trust declined to comment on the misidentification of Harris as a nurse.
The CPS also declined to comment.
Read more about the Protect Nurse campaign
