A HOSPITAL worker used his bosses' attempts to control the MRSA infection, to carry out a series of sexual assaults.

Healthcare assistant Simon Kasolo, aged 27, was given the job of monitoring the hospital-acquired infection as part of his job at Queen Mary's Hospital Sidcup, where MRSA has been a major concern.

But Blackfriars Crown Court heard Kasolo used the task as an excuse to grope male patients.

Kasolo told male patients he was following official procedures by checking their private parts for signs of the infection.

But a jury convicted him of four charges of sexual assault on male patients at the hospital, between October 1 and November 18 last year. He was acquitted on another two charges.

The court heard how one patient in his mid-30s, who cannot be named for legal reasons, woke up to find Kasolo indecently touching him.

He said he had only been a patient in Queen Mary's for three hours when Kasolo took swabs in his mouth, ears, groin and then the top of his penis and pubic hair.

He said he had been slightly embarrassed by the experience, but believed Kasolo, of Tranquil Rise, Erith, was following the rules.

He added: "When you are in the care and control of a hospital, you go with the flow."

After taking a sleeping pill one night, he said: "About 6am I awoke to find Simon had drawn the curtains closed and had pulled back the covers and was interfering with me.

"He mentioned having to do another MRSA swab then he threw the covers back over me, drew the curtains and left."

The court was told swabs to test for MRSA are usually taken from the throat, nose, armpit and the top of the inside leg. Genital swabs are only taken in specific medical circumstances.

Originally from Uganda, Kasolo fled to Britain five years ago to escape persecution, including being jailed for being gay, the court heard.

Jailing him for 30 months, Judge Timothy Pontius told Kasolo that, but for his offences, he was "a conscientious care worker who clearly enjoyed and took great pride in your work". But he added: "You breached the trust of patients for your own sexual gratification."