Pensioner attacked in hospital

A teenager has been placed on supervision for two years after assaulting an elderly man at the Gilbert Bain Hospital on Christmas Eve.

Rory Smith, 17, of Burgh Road in Lerwick, admitted pushing the man against a wall and pinning him to the ground.

He also obstructed and hindered two nurses and a doctor before struggling with them as they restrained him from carrying out the assault.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said Smith was at the hospital after being taken there by ambulance. That came after he had been found in the street drunk.

He said an 81-year-old man went into the cubicle to see Smith. But Smith attacked him, pushing him against the wall and then onto the floor.

“That created a significant disturbance,” Mr MacKenzie said.

At first a nurse attended and tried to pull Smith off the man. Another nurse and a doctor joined in the effort when that proved unsuccessful.

Things got no better on Christmas Day when Smith threw a duvet over a woman at Coastguard Houses and placed her in a headlock, shouting and swearing as he did so.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Smith believed his drink had been spiked.

“There’s more than a strong suspicion that, although he accepts he was drinking quite heavily, his drink had been tampered with. Somebody he thought was a friend put something into his drink.”