Psychiatric nurse injected with drugs by patient
Attack happened in Thornford Park Hospital
A PSYCHIATRIC patient at Thornford Park Hospital attacked a nurse with a syringe, injecting her with powerful drugs before she could escape.
The terrifying incident happened in a secure unit at the Crookham facility, New-bury magistrates heard.
Helen Waite, prosecuting on Thursday, April 28, said a colleague who rescued the nurse Dawn Watts saw two puncture wounds on her upper thigh and fluid from the drugs running down her leg.
It was the second time in months that 47-year-old Timothy David Randall had attacked a hospital staff member, the court was told.
He was flanked in the dock by a burly, uniformed man from the hospital team, while three more sat in the public gallery nearest to him.
Ms Waite said that, on the latest occasion, Ms Watts was administering medication in the form of an injection to Mr Randall.
She added: “It was a fortnightly injection and needed to be given in the buttocks. At first he was co-operative and she inserted the needle.”
Without warning, the court heard, Mr Randall leaped up and grabbed the syringe.
In a statement to police, nurse Watts said: “He swung it towards me and stabbed me in the upper thigh. Then he did it again.”
Ms Waite said: “A male assistant confirmed her account. She had two puncture wounds and moisture from the drugs on her leg. Fortunately she suffered no major effects from the drugs injected into her.
“The defendant told police afterwards that the needle had hurt him and he had grabbed it in anger.”
Mr Randall, a married man who used to live at Pigeons Farm Road, Greenham, admitted committing one offence of assault by beating on October 1 last year.
The court heard he was convicted of a similar charge involving a different staff member last August.
That incident happened around the time of a scheduled visit from his wife, which was to be supervised by a member of staff, magistrates were told.
The fact that he could not be alone with her angered Mr Randall, the court heard on that occasion, and magistrates were told he had thrown punches at a staff member, resulting in minor injuries.
Sarah Neighbour, defending, said her client had been in Thornford Park Hospital for three years and had no foreseeable release date, adding: “His treatment is ongoing.”
She told the court: “He has spent six weeks in isolation as a result of this latest incident, so he has been penalised already.”
District judge Davinder Lachhar made Mr Randall subject to a 12-month conditional discharge. She also ordered him to pay £85 costs plus £50 compensation to nurse Watts.
