‘Paranoid’ Worksop man didn’t believe cops were real when he ran amok in hospital
A "paranoid" Worksop man who assaulted police officers because he didn’t believe they were real also destroyed a hospital defibrillator when he ran amok in A&E, a court has heard.
Nathan Proctor was shouting and swearing as he wandered around the A&E department of Bassetlaw District Hospital at 9.45am on November 22, said prosecutor Becky Allsop.
He threw a defibrillator across the nurses' station, breaking it in the process, before going into a practise department and smashing a computer.
When police arrived and tried to restrain him he lunged forward and headbutted an officer, splitting his lip and leaving him with a swollen eye.
Proctor cocked his head and tried to headbut a second officer, but he was hit three times in the face.
He later said he had fallen out with his partner and felt the police were in fake uniforms and he was in fear of his life.
A probation officer explained he had been using drugs and alcohol and was demanding that police be called.
"When they arrived he didn't believe they were officers,” he said. “He recognises that wasn't the case. He thought he had been spiked. He wants to address the issues his substance abuse has caused.”
Proctor, aged 32, also injured his arm when he smashed a £200 window at the Vine Hotel after taking alcohol and cocaine and being kicked out of the venue, on October 12. He was taken to hospital by police but couldn’t remember what happened.
Ryan Higginbotham, mitigating, said Proctor would benefit from the supervision of the probation services to resolve his underlying issues.
The breakdown of a relationship left his mental health in a poor state and his substance misuse escalated, he said. He has since obtained his own accomodation and hopes to re-establish contact with his children.
The court heard he has 26 previous convictions for 53 offences, and was last in trouble for assaulting an emergency worker, in April 2023.
Proctor, of Canal Road, Worksop, admitted criminal damage and assaulting emergency workers, at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on December 12.
On Tuesday, district judge Gillian Young told him sick people and overworked NHS staff would have witnessed his behaviour.
She imposed a 16-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a 31-day programme and 20 rehabilitation days. He must pay £700 compensation