A NURSE was stabbed to death yesterday as she went for a walk outside a hospital during her morning cigarette break.

The woman, named last night as Cheryl Moss, 33, suffered multiple knife wounds and was left bleeding to death on a path at St George’s Hospital in Essex. The path, which leads to Hornchurch Country Park, is often used by staff, who have to leave the hospital grounds to have a cigarette.

A member of staff discovered her body at 11am, about 30 minutes after she told colleagues that she was going for a cigarette. Police last night ruled out sexual assault. Ms Moss, from Dagenham, East London, was married.

Officers are examining closed-circuit television footage from the hospital, which is run by Havering Primary Care Trust. Last night a bouquet of flowers was placed on the hospital gates. A hand-written card read: “Cheryl, God bless you and keep you. From all your colleagues on Canvey Ward.”

The death shocked staff at the hospital, many of whom are calling for tighter security. Imelda Distura, 34, a trainee nurse, said: “We are all frightened because we don’t know who did it. Everyone is very upset. I’m very frightened to come back to work, but I will. It’s safe here. But we will be asking for more security. Someone found her in the smoking area and said she had been stabbed repeatedly. I think it was a domestic who found her.”

Detective Superintendent Dick Langley, of the Metropolitan Police, said that Ms Moss had been a victim of a frenzied attack. He said that no arrest had been made, no obvious suspect had been identified and there were no witnesses.

“At around 11.10 this morning at the rear of the hospital police were called to a female who had suffered stab wounds. Police, ambulance and air ambulance attended but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.”

A police source said that the investigation was not focusing on the possibility that Ms Moss was killed by a patient. Although it has a mental health ward, run by the North East London Mental Health Trust, the hospital is dedicated to the care of the elderly. It has a strict non-smoking policy, which was introduced this year. Staff and patients are banned from smoking anywhere in the hospital grounds.

The hospital has five wards and can accommodate 120 patients. One of the wards cares for elderly patients who are mentally ill and another looks after patients suffering from dementia. The hospital also has a nursery for the children of staff.

Police sealed off the grounds and were interviewing everyone leaving the premises. Forensic scientists were also working at the scene. One nurse arrived at the hospital and burst into tears when told of the news.

Ralph McCormack, the chief executive of Havering Primary Care Trust, offered his condolences to the family of the nurse, who has worked for the trust for 17 years and the hospital for 10 years.

He said: “Cheryl was very well respected, well known and well liked. This has touched many people. We are doing our best to support the staff and we are doing what we can to support the family.

“We will review security and additional security measures will be added. We will do our best to make the relatively large site backing on to a public place — a county park — as secure as we can make it.

“In almost 70 years we have been a healthcare facility we have had nothing approaching this level of violence or anything like this attack.”

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