Man jailed over assaults on NSW patients

A man who dressed up as a doctor and assaulted two elderly women in a NSW hospital has been sentenced to at least four years in prison.

Antony Paul Hanney, then 46, snuck into Wagga Wagga's Calvary Hospital on the night of September 20, 2012.

Once a cleaner at the hospital, Hanney used his knowledge of the premises to find and don surgical scrubs and a bandanna.

Hanney then slipped into the room of a 77-year-old woman and sexually assaulted her.

The woman, who initially thought Hanney was a doctor or orderly, called out for help before he slipped away.

Hanney then went into the room of an 86-year-old patient and indecently assaulted her.

In sentencing him at Sydney's District Court on Monday, Judge Phillip Mahony described Hanney's "somewhat bizarre" behaviour as predatory towards vulnerable, elderly women.

He said Hanney had maintained that he didn't remember anything about the attacks as it was "grand final day" and he had been "blind drunk".

The court heard Hanney, who pleaded guilty to the offences, had described his conduct as appalling and disgusting, saying: "It's not like me. It was a shock to me."

Judge Mahony sentenced him to a maximum of six years for both offences.

Taken into consideration time already served, his earliest date of release will be October 2016.