Overdose patient chased doctor around Ninewells car park Published duration 18 May 2015

image copyright Val Vannet image caption Harrison had been taken to the A&E department at Dundee's Ninewells Hospital

A drug overdose patient who chased a doctor around a hospital car park has been jailed for a year.

Christopher Harrison, of Lincolnshire, was taken to Dundee's Ninewells Hospital on 22 April after he was found slumped in an alleyway in the city.

The 24-year-old, who had been released from prison the previous day, shouted abuse at doctors and chased a consultant out of the building.

He also admitted assaulting two police officers who tried to restrain him.

Fiscal depute Laura Bruce told Dundee Sheriff Court that Harrison had stopped off in Dundee while making his way home from prison in Inverness to his native Lincolnshire.

He was found in the alleyway surrounded by drug paraphernalia, and was taken to A&E at Ninewells. Having woken up at the hospital, he began shouting at doctors before getting out of bed and flailing his arms.

When consultant Andrew Paterson arrived, Harrison shouted: "Who are you looking at?"

Police assault

He then ran at the doctor, chasing him outside into the ambulance area of the A&E department. Two policemen arrived to tackle Harrison, and he kicked one of them on the leg before repeatedly trying to bite him, and spat on the other while being taken to Dundee's police HQ.

Harrison's defence solicitor David Sinclair said his client's recollection of the event was "non-existent".

He said: "He was released from prison the day before and can't even remember where he stayed, how he got to the city centre or what drugs he had taken.

"The only thing he can tell me is when he awoke in hospital he was extremely anxious to get back to Lincolnshire where he is from."

Having pleaded guilty to charges of police assault and behaving in a threatening and abusive manner, Harrison was returned to prison to serve the remaining 56 days of the sentence he had been released from, with a further 12 months to be served consecutively.