Christian nurse, 37, says she was sacked for 'harassment and bullying' after PRAYING for a Muslim colleague

• Christian nurse Victoria Wasteney, 37, prayed with her ill Muslim co-worker
• She offered Enya Nawaz, 25, a shoulder to cry on when she was unwell
• She also gave Miss Nawaz book about a Muslim who becomes a Christian
• But Miss Nawaz complained her colleague had tried to convert her
• Miss Wasteney was suspended for nine months and warned about her faith
• Now she is taking the hospital to a tribunal over religious discrimination

By Ollie Gillman for MailOnline

A Christian nurse claims she was sacked for 'harassment and bullying' after she prayed for a troubled Muslim colleague.

Victoria Wasteney, 37, a senior occupational health therapist at a mental hospital in east London, offered support to a fellow nurse when she was unwell.

Miss Wasteney says she put her hand on young colleague Enya Nawaz's knee and asked if she could pray for her, saying: 'God, I trust You will bring peace and You will bring healing.'

The pair had been on friendly terms for months, so Miss Wasteney, who describes herself as a 'born-again Christian', was furious when she was suspended from work for 'harassing' Miss Nawaz.

East London NHS Foundation Trust suspended her for nine months on full pay, gave her a written warning and told her not to discuss her faith with co-workers.

But the nurse, from Buckhurst Hill, Essex, will on Tuesday begin a legal challenge against the trust for discriminating against her for her religion.

Miss Wasteney, who worked at the John Howard Centre - a mental hospital in Homerton, east London - told the Sunday Telegraph: 'I'm not a hard-line evangelical. I'm not anti-Muslim. I believe in freedom of speech, but I've always believed we should be sensitive to one another's beliefs and feelings.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2915253/Christian-nurse-37-says-sacked-harassment-bullying-praying-Muslim-colleague.html