Man with 94 previous convictions refused to leave Antrim Area Hospital and was found sleeping on the floor, court hears
Police called to Antrim Area Hospital about a man who was refusing to leave found him lying sleeping in a "foetal position" on the floor, a court has heard.
When he was awakened, the man became aggressive and spit hit an officer on the arm.
Sean Savage (34), of no fixed abode in Antrim town, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a police officer on October 19 this year.
Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena, was told the defendant had been at the hospital since October 17 and despite being discharged multiple times, refused to leave and kept booking himself in.
Police found him sleeping on the floor in an "observation corridor" and hospital staff had to clear a seating area because Savage had become aggressive to them when asked to leave and he was being disruptive.
A defence solicitor told the court the defendant was homeless and was having mental health difficulties.
He said the spit hitting the officer was "inadvertent".
The defendant accepted his behaviour was "unruly and aggressive" and that he had been "making a nuisance of himself", the court was told.
The solicitor said it did not appear that the defendant directed "any violence or aggression towards hospital staff" but had reacted aggressively when awakened by police.
He said the defendant wished to apologise.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said the defendant had a poor record of 94 previous convictions. He said he recognised the defendant had "complex underlying issues".
He said it is "very nasty to be spat at" and added: "Police officers have a hard enough job without being spat at".
The judge said spitting at police cannot go unpunished and handed down a two months prison sentence.