A man being treated at the Royal Liverpool Hospital shouted racist slurs at another patient before trying to beat him.
A horrified nurse tried to intervene as Keith Blackett shouted the vile insults at a man in a bed across the ward before running across and punching him numerous times. Both men were in-patients at the hospital when Blackett, 53, launched his grim attack in December 2020.
He walked free from court today after a judge said his numerous health issues and recent compliance with the probation service meant he could be rehabilitated without prison. Tom Challinor, prosecuting, said Blackett was being treated in the hospital and nurses there had not had issues with him before the attack.
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However, healthcare assistant Michelle Steven, who was working on his ward, saw him become agitated and start shouting at another patient nearby. He accused the man, who is of South Asian origin, of stealing from him before using a racist slur.
Mr Challinor said Blackett then got up out of his bed and started to hit the man while holding a butter knife, which he was swinging around. The healthcare assistant tried desperately to get Blackett off the man, who Mr Challinor said lay terrified on his bed.
He said: “The victim was cowering on his bed. Ms Steven tried to pull the defendant off him and while this was happening he hit the victim again.” Mr Challinor said Ms Steven was “terrified” during the incident as she tried to call for help.
Blackett was then arrested and taken away by police. They said he then repeated the racist slur he had used towards the man again as well as calling him a c***. Blackett was charged months later with racially aggravated common assault and possession of cannabis after a small amount of the drug was found on him.
He pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court. The victim did not provide a statement to police so the judge in the case was not able to fully assess the effect of the incident on him, though Mr Challinor said its nature would clearly have had a significant effect.
Blackett has a range of previous offences including assaulting an emergency worker and wounding. Peter White, defending, said Blackett had told him he did not hold racist views and said he was sorry for the incident.
He said: “He apologises, he does not hold the views he expressed on that day in December 2020.” Mr White said Blackett also suffered from a number of health issues, pointing to a brain injury he suffered as well as a number of strokes he has had in recent years.
He added that Blackett was sentenced to a community order for separate offences a few months after the attack and said he recently completed it with no breaches after cooperating with the probation service. Mr White appealed to Judge Anil Murray to take into account Blackett’s compliance with his recent court order as well as his health issues and asked him to avoid sending him to prison.
Judge Murray told Blackett his actions “would normally have seen you got straight to prison” but said his recent cooperation with probation showed he was serious about starting to “turn his life around”. He said: ‘I have seen that since then you have made good progress on your community order.”
Blackett, of Kremlin Drive, was handed a nine month jail term suspended for two years. Judge Murray reserved Blackett’s case to himself and warned him that if he breached the suspended sentence he would likely go straight into prison.
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