A nurse was punched in the face by a psychiatric patient as she escorted him to an appointment with a doctor.
Sam Fyfe suddenly and unexpectedly attacked the health professional, knocking her to the floor and leaving her with a split lip. She was left shaken up by the assault by Fyfe, who she had been treating for nine months.
Newcastle Crown Court heard it was on June 4 last year that Fyfe went to the Silverdale mental health facility on Grainger Park Road, Newcastle. The community psychiatric nurse called for him to go through for the appointment to have an injection and they engaged in general chat.
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The nurse had been treating Fyfe, who has schizophrenia, for nine months and there had been previous threats towards staff. Neil Jones, prosecuting, said: "He asked if he was seeing the doctor and she said yes. Moments later he turned and punched her to the face quite unexpectedly with such force she fell backwards, hitting her head off a door frame and falling to the floor. He apologised before leaving the surgery."
The victim was left with a split and swollen lip. In a victim impact statement, she said: "This has shaken me up, I didn't expect this to happen. I had a good working relationship with Sam over the last nine months. His mood seemed okay.
"I now feel vulnerable in the clinic and wary towards the patients now. I'm aware my job carries risk but this has upset me and left me with an injury which I feel is unacceptable, regardless of his health. He understands right from wrong."
Fyfe, 28, of no fixed address, has 17 previous convictions, including for GBH with intent, battery and threatening behaviour. He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was sentenced to 16 weeks suspended for two years.
Mr Recorder Rippon told him: "Assaults on medical professionals who deal with patients with mental health difficulties are not rare but that doesn't make them acceptable. Assaulting someone at work is bound to have an effect on their confidence at work.
"This was committed in circumstances where it it was impulsive and short-lived."
The court heard Fyfe is currently detained as an in patient at a psychiatric hospital and the plan is to release him in around six months. Jamie Adams, defending, said he is receiving treatment and a prison sentence would not be constructive.
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