Malaria Nurse Sex Assault Sentence Adjourned

A staff nurse who sparked an international search over fears he had contracted malaria during a drugs trial has had his sentence hearing for sexual assault adjourned.

Matthew Lloyd, 36, from Southampton, sparked the appeal in October last year after he failed to keep an appointment in Oxford for the drug trial.

There were fears he would die unless he received medical care.

In September, a jury at Southampton Crown Court took 50 minutes to find him guilty of assault on a waitress then aged 20, on August 21 last year as she walked home in Southampton.

He was also found guilty of common assault on the same woman.

At the time of his disappearance, Lloyd had been arrested over the incident but not charged. He was found in Holland, came back to the UK and he did not contract the disease.

The sentencing hearing will take place on January 27.