A violent “brute” and serial thief has been jailed for attacking nurses and police officers and running amok at Harrogate District Hospital.

Philip John Watson, 32, “kicked off” inside the hospital’s A&E department where he assaulted two nurses, threatened doctors, threw a blood-pressure machine to the floor and launched a fruit-and-veg crate at a receptionist, York Crown Court heard.

Watson was on bail at the time after being arrested for a series of violent offences and shop thefts, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

During the “disgraceful” incident at the hospital on February 26, he went into the A&E department where he was treated for an apparent drug overdose.

He was left to “sleep it off” but when nurses went to rouse him, he began shouting and swearing at them. He then ripped the cannula, a fluid tube, from the back of his hand and pushed one of the nurses in the chest before elbowing her colleague in the shoulder “to get (her) out of his way”.

He then threw a blood-pressure machine to the floor and flicked blood from the cannula around the room. Ms Morrison added:

“He (then) stormed through A&E, pushing trolleys and trying to flip over the equipment.”

When a doctor asked him to stop, Watson threatened him before marching into the hospital reception, “again dripping blood onto the floor”. Ms Morrison said:

“He sat in a wheelchair before going outside and returning to reception with a wooden fruit-and-veg crate.”

Watson threw the crate at the ceiling, causing cracks and holes in the plastering. He then went outside, grabbed another crate and threw it at the reception desk, causing the receptionist to duck out of the way.

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He was escorted out of reception by two staff members, but then started throwing pieces of meat at nurses in the ambulance bay and threatening the ambulance driver.

Police were called in but when officers tried to cuff him, Watson tried to run away, shouting, “You will not arrest me”.

Officers took him to ground and hauled him into the police van, but Watson started kicking the police cage and told a special constable he would “bite his face off”.

Claimed to have swallowed bags of heroin

On arrival at Harrogate Police Station, Watson claimed he had swallowed bags of heroin, forcing officers to take him back to hospital for checks. On the way there, he subjected the special constable to a torrent of “foul and racist” comments.

Watson, from Harrogate but of no fixed address, was on bail at the time following a string of offences including a previous incident at the hospital on May 20 last year, when he went into A&E – again in a drink and drug-induced state – and was placed in a cubicle “to sleep it off”.

When he woke, he tried to leave the hospital through the “wrong door” and went berserk, “grabbing and shaking” doors and walking into the resuscitation room.

A doctor called for assistance and two hospital porters escorted Watson back to the cubicle where he told the doctor he wanted to “put his hands around somebody’s neck and squeeze them until their heads pop”.

Such was Watson’s “aggressive and intimidatory” behaviour, hospital staff called police who arrived to arrest him.

That same month, Watson stole alcohol from Asda on Bower Road and after being arrested he headbutted a glass door at the police station, causing it to crack.

The following month, on bail again, he elbowed a police officer in the face, causing a small cut, after being stopped on suspicion of shoplifting in Bower Street. Two other officers tried to bring him under control him, but he ran away as they fired a Taser gun at him which missed.

He was finally arrested following a short chase, but it took three officers to restrain him.

Three months later, he was arrested again for handling stolen goods after he and another man stole about £150 of clothes from TK Max at the Victoria Shopping Centre.

In October, he stole from the Co-op and used a stolen bank card to buy cigarettes from Tesco.

In November, he stole razors worth £145 from Asda and was arrested again the following month after stealing hundreds of pounds’ worth of clothes from TK Max. On being arrested, he was found with heroin.

He was ultimately charged with a raft of offences including assaulting police officers and hospital staff, resisting a police constable, criminal damage, shop thefts, threatening behaviour, possessing a Class A drug and handling stolen goods.

He admitted all matters and appeared for sentence via video link today after being remanded in custody.

‘Enormous’ criminal record

The court heard that Watson had an “enormous” criminal record for offences including burglary, robbery, carrying knives, racially aggravated criminal damage, assaulting police officers and “beating people up”. All the offences were fuelled by drink and drugs.

His solicitor advocate Graham Parkin said Watson was “completely out of control” at the time of his latest series of offences.

Judge Sean Morris said Watson had behaved “like a brute” towards the doctors and nurses who were “trying to save people’s lives”.

He described his behaviour as “disgracefully violent”.

Watson was handed a 21-month jail sentence, but he won’t be spending too long in prison as he will only have to serve half of that behind bars and he had already served the equivalent of a 14-month sentence on remand.

Latest figures reveal how dramatically the covid rate of infection has fallen in the Harrogate district over the past month.

Data published by North Yorkshire County Council shows the seven-day rate of infection was 344 per 100,000 people on March 1.

On February 1, when the Omicron variant was rampant, the rate was 1,300 per 100,000 people.

Although the rate continues to fall, there have still been covid-related deaths reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

NHS England figures show that one death was recorded on February 28 and another on February 25.

There have been 232 covid-related deaths at the hospital since the pandemic started almost two years ago.

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From Tuesday, the rules for people visiting patients in Harrogate and Ripon’s hospitals will be relaxed.

Since December 23, visitors have only been allowed for patients on end-of-life care, patients with a learning disability or severe cognitive impairment such as dementia. Visits to parents or carers of children and birthing partners are also permitted.

But from Tuesday, patients can have one visitor, by appointment, between 2pm-4pm for 30 minutes. Only two visitors will be allowed in each bay at any one time.

Harrogate and District Foundation Trust has rebranded some vehicles with messages that encourage people to talk about donating their organs.

The trust began the campaign following a recent change in the law around organ donation.

Since May last year, all adults are now considered to have agreed to donate their organs when they die, unless they record a decision not to do so, are in one of the excluded groups, or have told their family that they don’t want to.

However, relatives are still consulted before organ donation and the trust believes opportunities to donate are being missed because families aren’t sure what to do.

The campaign therefore aims to get people talking about the subject and leave relatives certain of their wishes.

Dr Sarah Marsh, clinical lead for organ donation at the trust, said:

“Knowing what your relative wanted, helps families support their decision around organ donation at what is often a difficult time.

“We need more people to talk with their loved ones about organ donation to give them the certainty they need to support their organ donation decision. We hope seeing our organ donation branded vehicles will encourage people to have this conversation.

“Your loved ones will still always be consulted before organ donation goes ahead. Please don’t wait. Speak to your family about organ donation and let them know your decision today.”

To register your decision about organ donation click here.

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The number of covid patients in North Yorkshire’s hospitals has fallen — with just seven now in Harrogate District Hospital.

A press briefing today heard there are now 109 patients in the four main hospitals serving the county – down from 131 last week.

The latest figure includes six patients in Scarborough, seven in Harrogate, 27 in York and 69 in South Tees.  Harrogate had eight patients last week.

Patient numbers had been climbing steadily since the end of June but did not reach levels seen during previous waves thanks to vaccinations weakening the link between infections and serious illness.

Despite this, Richard Webb, director of health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said the wider health and social care sector was still facing “pretty exceptional” pressures.

Speaking at a meeting of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, he said:

“The level of demand for both hospital and primary care, as well as community health services and social care, is pretty exceptional at the moment.

“This is not on the scale that we have seen during previous waves of covid but it is still something we are keeping a very close eye on.”

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Mr Webb also said weekly covid infection rates across the county had now plateaued after falling from record levels last month when the North Yorkshire average peaked at 590 cases per 100,000 people.

The latest figure now stands at 269 – just below the England average of 299. The Harrogate district rate is 289.

There were only five new cases of covid in the district reported today by the NHS.  No deaths were reported at Harrogate District Hospital of people who tested positive for the virus.

Currently 7,588 people have tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic – 178 have died at the district’s hospital.

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The 7-day rate for covid in the Harrogate district is now 14.3 (latest data up to March 30).  It is the second lowest rate in North Yorkshire, behind Ryedale which has a rate of 12.6.  The England average stands at 46.8.

The last recorded death at the district’s hospital was on March 29.

Two more patients who tested positive for coronavirus have died at Harrogate District Hospital.

According to NHS England figures, the deaths were reported on January 15 and 16. It takes the number of people who have died of the virus at the hospital since March 2019 up to 121.

Meanwhile, a further 64 people tested positive for covid in the Harrogate district.

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The 7 day average of cases per 100,000 in the district now stands at 307 (latest data January 14).

The district has reported a total of 5,939 covid cases since the start of the pandemic last year.

A Harrogate charity has been described as “the club you never want to be a part of”.

Yet Our Angels offers vital support for many families across the district after the loss of a baby. It was set up by Emma Lofthouse in 2009, after she lost her son Charlie 35 weeks into her pregnancy the year before.

Losing Charlie came as a huge shock to Emma, who already had two children. She said she wanted something to put her energy into and a way to keep talking about her son.

Our Angels started as a support group for anyone affected by baby loss, whether that is an early miscarriage or a neonatal death.

Mrs Lofthouse said:

“I was astonished there was no support in Harrogate. I felt lost and alone.”

Every year the charity gets families together to send bubbles into the air in memory of their loss. Photograph: Our Angels

The charity now fundraises thousands of pounds for Harrogate District Hospital’s maternity ward and training for midwives across the county.

Mrs Lofthouse said she believes it’s important for midwives to be trained to support the family straight away, as the midwife is often the first person there when they lose their baby.

Along with the trustees, Mrs Lofthouse runs monthly meetings at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate where families can come to talk about their babies and get emotional support.

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Mrs Lofthouse said:

“We can’t stop this happening but we can offer support after it does.

“People don’t want to talk about baby loss because it is heart breaking, but it is also so much more common that people think. It shouldn’t be a taboo subject.”

In October 2020, work was completed on the newly renovated and renamed Bluebell Suite at Harrogate Hospital after the charity donated £45,000.

The suite is a place where parents go after losing their baby. The charity wanted to ensure parents had everything they needed as they spend precious time with their child.

The charity also provides memory boxes to the hospital which are given to every set of parents. The box was one of the first things Mrs Lofthouse began fundraising for.

She added:

“When I left hospital I had nothing tangible to hold in his memory. This was one of the first things I wanted to fundraise for.”

The memory box is a way for the charity to tell families they aren’t alone. Photograph: Our Angels

The box includes a blanket the family can wrap their baby in and then take photographs. This way they have as a keepsake when they leave hospital. It also contains a leaflet about the charity, giving parents and other family members the option to get in touch for extra support.

Mrs Lofthouse says she will always be grateful for Our Angels giving her the chance to keep talking about her son Charlie almost 12 years on. She says she is honoured to offer families support after losing someone so precious.

To learn more about Our Angels you can find their website here or get in touch with them on Facebook, just search ‘ Our Angels charity and support group’.

Today’s figures from Public Health England show 16 new coronavirus cases in the Harrogate district.

This takes the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 3,704.

A further two coronavirus deaths have been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital which takes the total to 104. The two deaths were recorded on December 4 and 5.

The Harrogate district has a seven day rate of 95.1 per 100,000. This is still below England’s seven day rate which stands at 147.8 per 100,000 today.

Across the UK a further 17,272 coronavirus cases were reported today.

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Next week the covid vaccination programme is set to begin. Vaccinations are set to be delivered from Tuesday with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust the closest provider to the district.

GP-led primary care networks will begin delivering the vaccine in the coming weeks as the programme ramps up.

A further 21 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Harrogate district.

The figure, from Public Health England, brings the total number of positive tests in the district to 3,688 since the start of the pandemic.

Today the number of deaths recorded at Harrogate Hospital since the start of the pandemic rose to 102. The hospital reported two further deaths today which were recorded on December 3 and 4.

The Harrogate district has a seven day rate of 85.2 cases per 100,000. This remains below the seven day rate across North Yorkshire which stands at the 104.7 per 100,000.

The figure for new cases across the UK showed 15,539 positive coronavirus cases.

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