An Antrim woman who punched a nurse and used disorderly behaviour in two hospitals in a single evening has been jailed for four months.
Melanie Brown (52) was told by District Judge Peter King, “you punched a nurse….it is impossible to avoid custody.”
The sentence was welcomed by the Royal College of Nursing.
Rita Devlin, Director of the RCN in Northern Ireland said: “Anyone who wilfully assaults a nurse or other healthcare worker should feel the full force of the law and expect a tough sentence if found guilty. Sadly, physical assaults remain a fact of life for staff working in all areas of health, from emergency care to community services, and we must have measures in place to deal with this.”
Coleraine Magistrates Court heard of Brown’s behaviour at the Causeway and Altnagelvin Hospitals.
“This court has to send out a very, very clear message to the wider community that the court will do all in it’s power to protect NHS staff,” said Judge King.
“It is my job to ensure that punishment is both appropriate and just and one of the elements is to ensure that our public servants, especially those who put on a uniform whether that’s a hospital uniform or a police uniform, can have confidence to go about their duty knowing that the court will have their back.”
At an earlier hearing Brown, from the Castlecat Road in Bushmills, entered guilty pleas to two counts of disorderly behaviour and one of common assault.
A prosecuting lawyer told the court it was just after 6pm on July 12 this year when staff at the Causeway Hospital called for police help in relation to a woman who was “shouting and swearing and trying to get into other patient’s rooms.”
“She refused to listen to instructions from staff,” said the lawyer adding that when a staff nurse spoke to Brown the defendant “squared up to the nurse and punched her in the stomach” and continued to shout and swear.
Police arrived and Brown was arrested and she continued being “verbally abusive” to the officers, behaviour which continued all the way to Altangelvin Hospital and inside the busy A&E department.
Defence solicitor Sam Barr emphasised Brown’s deteriorating mental health and that the 52-year-old, who is “absolutely mortified” about her behaviour, had “reached out for assistance but did not get that assistance.”
Following an application, Brown was freed on £750 bail pending an appeal.
The RCN added: “Almost one-third (30.9%) of nursing staff in Northern Ireland experienced physical abuse from patients and relatives in the preceding 12 months, with two-thirds (66.7%) experiencing verbal abuse. Both figures are higher than the UK average.”
“It is clear that this issue is still a serious problem. Employers have a duty to provide a safe working environment where nurses feel that incidents will be dealt with quickly and robustly, and those who have been attacked will be fully supported.
