An aspiring Marine who spat at nurses treating him after he was found drunk in the park.
Liam Hunter, from Lossiemouth, spat at nurses at Dr Gray’s 20 times and threw a urine sample at one of them after being found drunk in Elgin’s Cooper Park.
The 18-year-old, who has a grandparent who is a nurse, was rushed to the hospital for “emergency” treatment in an ambulance on September 7 last year due to concerns for his welfare.
Yesterday the teen, who works at Walkers but hopes to join the Marines, was sentenced at Elgin Sheriff Court after he pleaded guilty charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting swearing and uttering threats and three counts of assaulting, obstructing or hindering hospital staff.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov asked Hunter to consider how he would feel if his grandparent was subjected to the same abuse he inflicted on the hospital staff.
She added: “The NHS staff put up with an awful lot of your behaviour before they called the police. People usually go to prison for this kind of behaviour.”
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Fiscal Sharon Ralph said Hunter was found drunk in Cooper Park by police at about 6.15pm. Officers requested an ambulance to take him to hospital, where the teen told medics he had drunk a bottle of vodka.
When he was asked to give a urine sample he began to “lash out” with his arms, striking a nurse and a porter.
Mrs Ralph said: “The nurse didn’t feel safe so she requested security staff to attend, who held his arms to prevent a further assault.
“The behaviour continued in this manner for a prolonged period. He ripped out his cannula, which must have hurt, and threw a bottle of urine at an auxiliary who managed to avoid it.
“He also proceeded to spit about 20 times at staff before urinating on the bed, this is when police were contacted.”
Hunter threw urine towards hospital auxiliary Nicole Robertson before spitting at nurses Steven Barker and Jan McGarrigle.
Defence solicitor Grant Daglish explained his client had had “troublesome time” during the last 18 months.
He added: “He can’t remember the incident due to the alcohol he consumed but is embarrassed and ashamed of it. He has taken himself away from that peer group and doesn’t drink anymore.”
Hunter, of Boyd Anderson Drive in Lossiemouth, was sentenced to 160 hours of unpaid work.
