Jailed: Abusive man threatened to 'spit in police officers' eyeballs' during A&E tirade
A man who spat blood on a hospital floor and threatened to spit on police officers during a tirade of abuse at an A&E department has been jailed.
Magistrates in Wolverhampton handed Nicholas Ball a 12-week prison sentence after he admitted causing criminal damage to the emergency department of New Cross Hospital and two charges of common assault of an emergency worker.
Wolverhampton Magistrates' Court heard how the 33-year-old of Wednesbury Road, Walsall, had been escorted to the hospital by two police officers on June 12 last year after being arrested for an unrelated matter.
The court was told how once in the A&E department, Ball was swearing, being abusive and demanding towards the two officers and members of the public. He also made rude and derogatory remarks to members of the public, patients and staff about their bodies, and ignored requests to stop.
He was then moved to a separate area of A&E due to his behaviour, where he then deliberately spat blood onto the floor. He was arrested for criminal damage and, despite clearing it up, spat more blood out, saying he was "saving up all his spit in his mouth for the officers".
The two officers then decided to place a spit hood on Ball, and handcuffed him behind his back so he could not remove it. When one officer dropped his cuff keys, Ball went to stamp on his hand as he picked them up off the floor, only missing fractionally as the officer moved his hand away. The other then pushed Ball back.
The court was told he warned the officers he would "spit in their eyeballs" as soon as the spit hood was removed, and tried to bite one officer.
After pleading guilty to all three charges, Ball was sentenced to 12 weeks behind bars, the court deciding the assaults on the police officers represented an aggravating factor.
Appearing in court on Friday, January 20, Ball was also ordered to pay £100 compensation to each officer he assaulted, fined £100 and told to pay costs of £185 as well as a surcharge of £154.
West Midlands Police said in a statement released after the sentencing: "On June 12 last year, two of our officers were assaulted at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton. A man was arrested and later charged with the offences and has been jailed for 12 weeks. He was also jailed for causing criminal damage at the hospital.
"Our officers and staff have the best protection through regular training, personal protective equipment and body-worn video technology. Being attacked or abused can have a lasting effect on mental health and there is a wealth of physical and wellbeing support available to ensure colleagues are cared for and fully recovered before returning to duties."
