Patient jailed after punching, attacking policeman with needle

The court ordered one year imprisonment for a 36-year-old man who was found guilty of threatening and hitting a police officer.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard how on 13 October, policeman Emanuel Cilia was stationed at the Emergency Unit of Mater Dei Hospital when he heard noises coming from a cubicle in front of the reception desk.

When he arrived on site, the policeman saw the accused, Sean Sinclair Pace, shouting to leave the cubicle because the doctor and the psychiatrist wanted him to go to Mount Carmel Hospital. When the accused noticed the presence of the police in the cubicle, he started to punch Cilia. In his testimony, the policeman said that Pace had taken a boxing position and punched him in the head seven times.

The ambulance driver then came in to try and restrain the accused.

Pace left the cubicle for a few seconds and came back with a syringe in hand. He looked at the driver and made a hand gesture which meant he was going to cut his head off. In the meantime, he was trying to open the plastic cover on the needle. The doctor and psychiatrist intervened and held back the accused.

The court was told that Pace had ended up in hospital because of an overdose. He had told the emergency doctor that he had a drug addiction problem and made use of heroin.

The magistrate noted that the accused has a history of contraventions presented against him in court. Pace was sentenced to a year in prison, effective immediately, together with a €1,000 fine.