Co Armagh man, who attacked three ambulance workers at Craigavon Hospital, had drunk a 10-glass bottle of vodka, court hears

Kurtis Totten, aged 26, from Corcreevy Drive, Richhill, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday having pleaded guilty to three counts of assaulting an ambulance worker and disorderly behaviour at a previous hearing.

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Police were called to deal with “an aggressive patient” who was being restrained by paramedics and porter staff at Craigavon Area Hospital on November 11 last year.

On arrival police observed a number of members of staff restraining the defendant on the floor of the ambulance triage department.

“The defendant was shouting and swearing at staff and police. Police spoke with one of the victims who was a student paramedic, who alleged the defendant had assaulted her by grabbing at her wrist, and pushing her into a wall,” said a Prosecutor.

She revealed two other male paramedics were also assaulted by the defendant who claimed he’d been drinking alcohol and didn’t remember assaulting anyone. One paramedic suffered a small cut under his eye.

Totten’s barrister Mr Conor Lunny said he accepted on his client’s behalf these are "serious matters”. “The individuals who went to his aid were there for good reason and they should not have been treated the way they were,” he said, citing a “background” to the case which the District Judge was aware.

Mr Lunny said his client was ‘SEN (Special Educational Needs) through school. He added that his client has no memory of the incident and said he drank a full 10-glass bottle of vodka alone.

"He blacked out and upon the arrival of these three Good Samaritans, he acted the way he did,” said the barrister, adding his client is “ashamed” of his actions.

"He fears the worst,” said Mr Lunny, adding Totten’s mother was in court with him. He further revealed his client is going through “various types of assessments” and hoped the judge would not consider “immediate custody”.

Mr Lunny pointed out that his client has since moved back home with his mother. “She is quite understandably quite protective of him and she is very keen to ensure he doesn’t go down the route of drinking alone again. However he has managed to stay sober in the meantime without her help.”

District Judge Michael Ranaghan said: “This is assaults on three ambulance workers. They were acting, as is their job, as Good Samaritans. It is not their job to be assaulted in the course of their duties.

"I understand you don’t remember it. I am aware of difficulties Mr Totten has in dealing with the run of ordinary life. And I can see his mother agrees with that assessment by the court,” he said.

The District Judge told Totten that his barrister and solicitor had “gone to great lengths to put this matter into your context”.

"I also have to put it into the context of all of your victims and primarily one, who was the youngest victim and a student on the night in question,” he said, adding an aggravating feature was that the crew were off duty for the rest of the night.

Totten was given a Combination Order including 18 months Probation supervision and 80 hours of Community Service.