HOSPITAL bosses have condemned a patient who threatened to burn down a security guard’s home and break a nurse’s arm.

Paul Giblin denied assaulting nurse Elizabeth Stewart and security guard John Hudson but was found guilty after a trial. On Monday he was jailed for 22 weeks.

South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court heard Giblin, of Dalton Road, had gone to Furness General Hospital’s A&E.

He told medics he had visited FGH after running into a lamppost which resulted in a number of his teeth being knocked out.

He became abusive and threatened to burn down security guard Mr Hudson’s house and then kicked him hard in the back.

The 42-year-old was then arrested and taken to Barrow Police Station.

Because of his injuries and behaviour a nurse, Elizabeth Stewart, was called to the station to assess his fitness to be detained.

He then threatened to break her arm while she was examining him.

Bosses at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), which runs FGH, described Giblin’s attack as ‘appalling’ and said prosecution will always be sought if any staff are injured.

Dan Willis, security manager for UHMBT, said: “It’s appalling that anyone should attack those whose main job is to save lives and our staff’s wellbeing is of prime importance to us.

While we understand that in some cases people’s medical conditions, or the drugs they are taking may cause them to act out of character, we will always condemn those who seek to cause our staff any harm and as an organisation we will always pursue sanctions with the police.”

Magistrates told Giblin, of Dalton Road, the offences warranted a prison sentence because the attacks followed a high level of violent threats against a nurse and involved the use of a shod foot in kicking the security guard.

They also highlighted Giblin’s significant record of previous offending as an aggravating factor.