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A man who attended a hospital emergency department while carrying a knife has been jailed.
Police and staff at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) worked closely after Adam Watson turned up at the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) with a knife in his waistband.
Officers were called to the hospital at 5.30am on Saturday (18 January) after the emergency department team became aware he was in possession of the blade.
Watson, aged 28, of Richardson Close, Nottingham, was arrested and charged with possession of a knife in a public place.
He appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday (20 January) where he admitted the offence and was jailed for a total of eight months.
Sergeant Natham Phipps, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“We work closely with hospital teams and I’d like to thank the staff on duty at QMC on Saturday who alerted us that this man was in possession of a knife.
“Hard-working hospital staff should not have to deal with this sort of incident while on a shift but their alertness helped us to seize this weapon.
“Officers attended promptly and were able to arrest Watson and take the knife out of harm’s way.
“It sends a strong message that this individual then found himself being sent to jail on Monday morning.
“There is never any excuse for anyone to be carrying a blade in public. It puts themselves and anyone they come into contact with at risk of harm.
“As this incident also highlights it can very quickly lead to you being put behind bars.”
Victoria Fensome, Divisional Nurse for Medicine at NUH, said:
“I want to pay tribute to my emergency department and security colleagues. Thanks to their professionalism under difficult circumstances, they averted a potentially fatal incident.
“While the majority of those attending our hospitals demonstrate respect for our staff and their hard work, sadly a small, but growing number of people still choose to inflict verbal abuse and, in some instances, physical violence upon our staff. This will not be tolerated.
“The safety and wellbeing of our staff, patients and visitors is our first priority.
"We work closely with the police and will not hesitate to take robust action against anyone found abusing and threatening our staff while at work.”