A woman who assaulted staff at Tunbridge Wells Hospital has been jailed.
Kent Police was called to the hospital during the early hours of Wednesday, 22 June 2022, to report that a patient had verbally abused a staff member and tried to assault him.
When the victim’s colleagues tried to help him, they were also assaulted.
Response team officers attended and arrested Rebecca Colman at the scene.
Colman, 28, of Station Road, Edenbridge, was later charged with two counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker and with causing a nuisance or disturbance on NHS premises.
She appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 23 June and pleaded guilty.
Colman was sentenced to 240 days’ imprisonment, which included the activation of a suspended sentence for previous offences against emergency workers.
District Commander for Tunbridge Wells, Chief Inspector Omid Changizi, said:
‘Every day police officers and hospital staff deal with unpredictable, challenging and sometimes volatile situations.
‘However, like any other job, they should be able to perform their roles without being the subject of abuse and physical violence.’Any assaults on emergency workers are completely unacceptable and we will not hesitate to prosecute those who put their safety at risk in this way.’
The Assaults on Emergency Workers Act came into force in November 2018 and created a new offence of assault against emergency workers – including police, paramedics, nurses and other blue light workers.
It also provides tougher sentencing powers for judges.
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