Dentist Lashed Out: Assistant

Newcastle Herald

Wednesday March 5, 2008

By KYLIE WILLIAMS

A DENTIST faced assault charges in Newcastle Local Court yesterday for what he described as tapping his assistant's hand out of the way so he could see during a procedure.

Ashleigh Jarrold, of Donald Street, Hamilton, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of common assault on his former assistant Karen Lyth.

Mrs Lyth has accused Jarrold, 55, of assaulting her twice at his Hamilton surgery, once on August 17 last year and the second time less than a week later, on August 23.

The court was told that at the time of the alleged assaults in August last year Mrs Lyth had recently returned to the dental profession after some time out of the industry.

Mrs Lyth told the court that on August 17 she went to take the suction device from Jarrold while they were working on a patient and he lashed out at her.

"He lashed out with the suction and he said: 'I'm quite capable of doing it myself'," Mrs Lyth said.

Mrs Lyth told the court she moved her hand away on that occasion and Jarrold did not make contact with her.

She said that on August 23, Jarrold hit her on the hand with a mouth mirror while they were taking sutures out of a patient's mouth.The court was told that at the time, Jarrold was holding scissors and a mouth mirror in patient Carol Malam's mouth and Mrs Lyth was holding another mouth mirror and a suction device.

Peter Harper, for Jarrold, said the dentist had already asked Mrs Lyth three times to move her hand out of the way because he could not see.

Mr Harper said Jarrold "tapped" her hand with his mouth mirror to get her to move.

But Mrs Lyth said she had not been asked to move her hand.

"No, he just struck me and said: 'I told you not to hold the mouth mirror in that way'," she said.

Mrs Lyth resigned on September 6 last year and seven days later took her complaint to the police.

She told the court she did not like the way Jarrold spoke to her.

"When you don't portray things the right way it becomes a personal attack," she said.

Her husband, Paul Lyth, a police inspector, told the court that he rang Jarrold on August 24 and told him that "a tap or anything else is an assault".

Inspector Lyth said he had told Jarrold that if he did not change the way he spoke to his wife then action would be taken.

The hearing before magistrate Elaine Truscott was adjourned to April 7.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home