A man with 205 previous convictions who spat on a nurse treating him at Craigavon Area Hospital has been jailed for four months.
Stephen Henderson, with an address listed as Dobbins Grove in Armagh city, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and disorderly behaviour in relation to Monday, January 20.
The 44-year-old appeared at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday via video link from prison where he had been on remand.
A prosecutor said police were in attendance with the defendant at the hospital on January 20.
The defendant was “highly aggressive and agitated” and was warned about his behaviour a number of times
In a treatment room, he shouted and swore at a nurse as she was attempting to treat him.
He told her to “f**k off” and “go f**k yourself”.
The nurse flinched backwards and she said the defendant had “spat on” her.
A defence lawyer said the defendant had been brought to the hospital due to concerns about his mental health.
She said he was “in handcuffs” at the hospital.
She said body-worn footage showed the defendant had “quite a lot of saliva in his mouth while he is talking” and after speaking to the nurse “saliva leaves his mouth”.
She said it was “clear from the bodyworn footage that he is still talking when that happens” and “he did not intend, or set out to, intentionally spit on the nurse”.
She added: “Mr Henderson does appreciate that the nurse may have been afraid at the time”.
The lawyer said the defendant “wishes to make all efforts to turn his life around”.
Deputy District Judge Gerard Trainor said the defendant had a “book” of 205 previous convictions.
The judge said the defendant had “offered not a word of contrition”.
He added: “You have no recognition at all of the position of the nurse who was trying to render assistance”.
He continued: “There is no tolerance within this or any other court for that type of behaviour within a hospital setting or indeed elsewhere”.
The judge said prison had been a “revolving door” for the defendant and added: “You have been in custody so many times that nothing seems to have impacted upon you and it may well be the case that you do need support or help in the community”.
Jailing the defendant for four months, the judge told him: “You can take this message from this court. If you behave in this fashion in a hospital setting you will go to prison”.
