Tracy Turner: Female hospital worker ‘in plot to kidnap, rape and murder girl aged under 13’

A hospital worker has been charged with conspiracy to kidnap, rape and murder a child.

Tracy Turner, who has been suspended from her job at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, faces trial on a total of eight counts.

The 51-year-old, of Roath, Cardiff, is accused of conspiring to rape a girl aged under 13, to sexually assault her by penetration, to sexually assault her by touching, to kidnap her and to murder her.

She is also accused of two counts of making indecent images of a child and one of perverting the course of justice.

The operating theatre assistant has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The NHS worker is charged jointly with 45-year-old Stuart Compton, of Cathays, Cardiff.

He has pleaded not guilty to the same conspiracy charges. Both appeared at Cardiff Crown Court this month and are due to stand trial in May.

The charge of perverting the course of justice alleges that Turner hid a mobile phone on June 25 last year “following the arrest of her partner”.

She is alleged to have made indecent images in Categories B and C – the second and third most serious types of illegal images of children.

Turner worked in a busy operating theatre at the largest hospital in Wales until she was suspended after the investigation was launched.

In a statement, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board – which runs the hospital – said, “The health board suspended the individual once we were made aware of the allegations against them.

“This is a sensitive issue and the health board has been co- operating with partners in South Wales Police.

“We are not able to comment further while court proceeding are ongoing.”

South Wales Police have not commented on the case.

The 1000-bed University Hospital of Wales – the third-largest in the UK – was opened by the Queen in 1971, with the aim of uniting medical teaching and practice on one site.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has previously said the hospital’s “ageing infrastructure” is “severely impacting our ability to deliver the patient and staff experience that we would like now”.

It wants a total rebuild to meet the “growing population of South Wales and the increasing complexity of healthcare”.

However, in April 2023 a report from the Health Inspectorate Wales found that the hospital’s staff were committed to providing high-quality care, while patients rated the service there as good.