Police had to physically restrain a man who had reportedly assaulted nurses and smashed a hospital window having refused treatment for Covid-19.
Officers from Nottinghamshire police were called to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Derby Road after a man was said to have cracked a window, pushed a nurse and pinned another member of staff against a wall.
The two response constables from Radford Road will now have to self-isolate for ten days.
A man was arrested at the scene following the incident which happened at around 8.50am yesterday (Tuesday 2 February) and has subsequently been charged with two assaults and criminal damage.
Jake Brinley, 23, of no fixed address, has now been remanded to appear at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court later today.
Inspector Charlotte Allardice, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Our response teams quickly attended the scene and brought the incident to a safe conclusion. The incident was immediately investigated resulting in a man now being brought before the courts.
“The officers involved went into this situation equipped with the required protective gear but knew that they risked exposure to the virus due to prolonged close contact and that it would result in them having to isolate at the very least. This serves as a stark reminder of the challenges faced by officers and NHS staff during this pandemic and the fact that they put themselves at risk in order to serve the public and protect the NHS.
“Our hospital colleagues and front line police officers are working tirelessly to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control and selflessly put themselves at risk every day. To be assaulted and to experience threatening behaviour when you are trying to help people and just do your job is completely unacceptable and something that we treat with the utmost severity.”
Key workers across Nottinghamshire have dealt with hundreds of incidents where they’ve been assaulted while on the front line dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
As a result, a number of front line workers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, police officers, prison officers and firefighters came together in a video where they asked for people to treat them with respect.
