Former mental health nurse banned from working over attack on wife

A mental health nurse who stabbed his wife multiple times in a horror domestic violence attack will not be allowed to return to work for at least 15 years, a tribunal has ruled.

George Alexander Freeman blocked the exit to his wife’s bedroom before he stabbed, slashed and sliced her body in an unprovoked attack on December 7, 2017.

She told him she loved him and pleaded for him to stop and call an ambulance before she collapsed and he threw clothes on her body.

Freeman, 62, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was last year sentenced to nine years, 10 months behind bars, with a non-parole period of five years, six months.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia suspended his registration shortly after the attack and asked South Australia’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal to impose a cancellation.

It also sought an order that would disqualify him from reapplying to register for 8-10 years, while Freeman argued that six years would be a more appropriate period.

But, in a published decision, the tribunal disqualified him for 15 years from the November 2020 date of the order to highlight that his actions were “incompatible with registration and will not be tolerated”.

“[Freeman’s] conduct involved an unprovoked, premeditated and brutal attack with a knife on his then-wife in her own home,” the judgment read.

“He persisted in the attack and, despite his nursing knowledge and experience, failed to render any physical assistance to the victim when she was in danger of dying.

“We consider it would be an affront to public confidence in the nursing profession if such a person was allowed to apply for registration at any earlier time.”

It was also noted that Freeman had “serious health issues” and it was unlikely he would ever be medically fit to return to work as a nurse.

After attacking his wife with a 30cm knife he had bought for $6 days earlier, the former butcher called her elderly father to tell him his daughter had been stabbed.

He then returned to her unconscious body, bent down next to her and dragged the knife through her hand.

Freeman eventually requested an ambulance but did nothing to help his wife and told the officer she was “just” alive.

The court heard he was motivated by anger after the she told him she wanted to end their marriage because he had been unfaithful.

He will be eligible for parole in June 2023.

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