Highland man threw urinal container contents into face of A&E nurse
A forestry worker was warned by a sheriff he could go to jail after a court heard that the 24-year-old punched an A&E nurse and threw the contents of a urinal container into his face.
But defence advocate Clare Russell told Sheriff Nigel Cooke that her client strongly suspected his drink had been spiked in an Inverness nightspot where he witnessed an alleged attempted murder. She added that it explained Blair Wallace's behaviour on the night of April12/13 this year.
Ms Russell went on to tell the court that she had also seen the CCTV footage of an incident in Johnny Foxes, agreed it was traumatic and before the Raigmore Hospital assault, her client had ended up in the River Ness.
She said: "My client immediately contacted the NHS to see if blood had been taken when he was admitted, but none was so we can't prove his drink had been spiked.
"But it may explain his bizarre behaviour which is out of character. He has written a letter of apology [which was given to the sheriff] to the nurse which shows the type of person he is. As a result of this incident, he has been abstinent from alcohol since April."
Sheriff Cooke decided to defer sentence until November 27 for a background report and a restriction of liberty order assessment.
He told Wallace, of Sellar Place, Conon Bridge: "In my view, the threshold for custody has been reached."
But the social work report will present alternative sentencing options to prison and a sheriff will decide then on Wallace's fate.