A HOMELESS hospital patient who turned nasty with a crisis worker has been sentenced and taken to task by a judge.
John Pullin, 32, was admitted to the West Cumberland Hospital’s accident and emergency department during the early hours of November 12. Pullin was seen and assessed by the female crisis practitioner, telling her he was homeless and needed somewhere “safe” to stay.
But when told she had not deemed him a risk to himself or others, Pullin’s manner changed. He wrapped a bed sheet around his hands, approached the worker and shouted at her aggressively with gritted teeth.
“She was very fearful for her own safety and also for her life,” prosecutor David Traynor told Carlisle Crown Court. “She says in her many years in working in the NHS she had never felt as terrified as she was on that night.”
Her attempts to reason with Pullin had no effect. She left the room, shut the door, a panic alarm was pressed and porters attempted to calm him down.
Pullin, of no fixed address, later admitted assault on an emergency worker.
After hearing there had been no recent complaints about his behaviour while in custody, Judge Nicholas Barker imposed an 18-month community order comprising 20 days’ rehabilitation.
“It simply won’t do, Judge Barker observed of the offence as he passed sentence. “These people are vital to the provision of much needed care by the health services. She was working at three o’clock in the morning, no doubt dealing with other intoxicated people and you scared the living daylights out of her.”