Man who assaulted two pregnant nurses in Altnagelvin A&E sent to prison for 5 months

A man who assaulted two pregnant nurses at the A&E department of Derry’s Altnagelvin Hospital has been jailed at the local Magistrate’s Court.
Patrick Farren (51) of 22, Stoneburn Place in the city admitted several charges of assault and criminal damage in the hospital on January 31 this year.
The court was told that police were called to the A&E department at 4.30 in the morning after reports of an ongoing disturbance between two males one of them being Farren.
When they arrived staff informed that Farren had arrived at 3 a.m. in an agitated state.
He had been asked to sit down and told a nurse ‘I’ll stand wherever I want’. He then began shouting and swearing at staff and at one stage lit a cigarette.
A staff nurse who was seven months pregnant told him he could not smoke in the hospital and he pushed past her and another nurse who was also pregnant.
He also shouted in one nurse’s face ‘You are a f—–g whore, you are a f—–g bitch.’
A member of the public who tried to calm Farren down then became involved in an altercation with the accused and the man received injuries to his head.When police arrived Farren was lying on the ground kicking and banging his head off the floor.
He kicked a hole in the plasterboard wall and had to be restrained.
Defence solicitor Mr. Dermot Downey said Farren was well known tot he court and had ‘a significant record.’
He said his client had no recollection of the incident and after being arrested in the early hours of Friday morning was not fit for interview until the Saturday.
Deputy District Judge Anne Marshall said that Farren had ‘an appalling record’ with 165 previous convictions. She said there were 19 assaults on police and 88 riot or disorderly charges.
The judge said Farren had only been released from prison a short time before ‘this appalling incident’ and added that while both nurses were uninjured they were badly shaken.
She sentenced Farren to five months in prison and fined him £20 for smoking in the hospital.