A 36-year-old Inverness woman who was believed to have taken an overdose assaulted a doctor when he tried to assess her at the casualty department of Raigmore Hospital, the city’s court heard yesterday.
Margo Stewart, of 9 Woodside Place, previously admitted slapping Duncan Goldie in the early hours of July 1 last year and swearing at him.
Sentence was deferred until yesterday for a background report and she reappeared before Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart said: “She was taken to A&E in a state of intoxication and it was said she had also taken an overdose.
“The doctor came in to assess her and saw that she was sleeping. He started speaking to her and shook her but got no response.”
When the doctor touched her middle finger, Stewart, who has a daughter, swore and slapped the man on the chest.
Mr Urquhart said: “He did not require any treatment but it left a mark.”
Defence agent Shahid Latif asked the sheriff not to jail Stewart, who admitted previous convictions.
Mr Latif said: “The pressure applied was a painful stimulus and that was why she reacted in this way. She has no recollection because she had attempted suicide and had taken an overdose of medication.
“She was horrified when she was told what she had done and she has written a card of apology to the doctor. Her previous record is due to an inability to control her intake of alcohol and drugs.
“She also suffers from mental health disorders and has difficulty dealing with the realities of life, requiring intensive intervention.”
Ordering Stewart to be under supervision for a year, undertake a treatment programme and do 130 hours of unpaid work in the community, the sheriff told her: “This really is the last throw of the dice before the court loses patience with you and sends you to jail.
“What concerns me is the effect her behaviour has on her daughter and what will happen to her if her mother is sent to jail.”
