A Japanese court on Monday sentenced a nurse to 44 months in jail for tearing off the nails of six bed-ridden patients in hopes of being reassigned away from her colleagues.
The Kyoto District Court in western Japan imprisoned Akemi Sato, a 32-year-old former assistant nurse, finding her guilty of using her hands to tear off 49 finger and toe nails of six female patients in 2004.
She committed the "selfish" crime to vent her pent-up anger in the hospital, the court found.
"Faced with complaints from senior workers in the workplace, she tried to let off steam while hoping the confusion in the hospital would result in her being relocated," judge Ryuichi Higashio said, as quoted by public broadcaster NHK.
Sato had pleaded guilty. Her defense counsel had called for leniency, arguing she had been under major stress.