A woman accused of sabotaging two Sydney hospitals by cutting gas and water lines has appeared on footage that allegedly shows her as she tampered with mechanical equipment at a different building.
Vanessa Moulton, 42, is accused of disrupting the critical gas and water supplies at two hospitals in Sydney‘s Sutherland Shire in the early hours of Tuesday.
Police were later told that a 72-year-old man died at Sutherland Hospital at about 2.30am on Tuesday morning.
Stunning new CCTV footage allegedly shows Moulton as she interfered with critical infrastructure at a separate building before she is accused of visiting the hospitals.
The 42-year-old, who police now allege is a serial saboteur, appeared to tamper with a fire control panel at a Darlinghurst backpacker hostel in the footage.
Additional footage showed Moulton as she appeared to switch off the high-pressure water and gas mains at a Caringbah unit block just before 1am.
Moulton was arrested on Parkside Avenue in Miranda on Tuesday morning for breach of bail.
She has since been charged with two counts of public nuisance, two counts of trespassing, sabotage, and destroy or damage property and breach of bail.
Vanessa Moulton, 42, allegedly disrupted the critical gas and water supplies at two hospitals in Sydney’s south during the early hours of Tuesday
CCTV footage appears to show Moulton as she tampered with a fire control panel at a Darlinghurst backpacker hostel
Additional footage showed Moulton as she appeared to switch off the high-pressure water and gas mains at a Caringbah unit block just before 1am
Moulton was also charged with tampering with fire alarm or fire signalling apparatus, and trespass on protected premises in relation to a separate alleged incident at a Darlinghurst hostel on Monday.
No charges have been laid over the death of the hospital patient. Authorities are now investigating whether the two incidents are linked.
Moulton appeared in Sutherland Local Court videolink on Wednesday, where she was refused bail.
She declined the assistance of Legal Aid and was asked by the magistrate why she should not remain in custody.
‘I didn’t do it,’ Moulton replied, NCA Newswire reported.
She will remain in custody until her next court appearance at the Downing Centre on December 24.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said that the man’s death will be ‘fully investigated’.
‘We want to make sure that the family has as much information as we have and that we communicate it to them as soon as possible,’ he said on Wednesday.
Moulton has been charged with a string of offences related to the alleged disruptions
He added that critical hospital infrastructure statewide will undergo a thorough security audit.
‘It’s such a shocking allegation it may well have been the case that it was believed that no one would be so callous or cruel,’ Minns said.
‘We’re obliged to protect that critical infrastructure and I want to assure patients and families across NSW Health, as well as the workers that rely on that infrastructure to work, that we’re going to make sure that we do everything we can to keep it safe.’
There was no impact to patients from the alleged tampering of mains water and non-medical gas supply at Kareena Private Hospital.
‘All services were quickly restored with minimal disruption and no impact to patient care,’ a Ramsay Health Care spokeswoman said.
Earlier, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the act of alleged ‘sabotage’ could have had ‘catastrophic’ consequences for more patients.
‘It is very, very concerning that life-saving medical gases have been [allegedly] sabotaged at the public and private hospitals,’ he told reporters on Tuesday.
‘Access to gas systems in NSW public hospitals is restricted and we will review the incident to see what improvements can be implemented.’
More to follow.
