A HOSPITAL patient with one leg had to be restrained by six people after kicking one nurse and throwing a phone at another, a court heard yesterday.

Keith Jones, 31, became aggressive and agitated at South Cleveland Hospital, Middlesbrough, after being brought in suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, said Dan Cordey, prosecuting, at Teesside Crown Court. He said Mr Jones had been telephoning his mother from a ward clerk's desk when his "shouting and swearing" prompted Sister Kathleen Durham to call security.

Mrs Durham said that Mr Jones then made another call to his landlord, again swearing, shouting and banging the desk.

She said that Staff Nurse Sandra Gallagher was knocked backwards into a metal trolley when Mr Jones "flailed" his arms about and kicked out at her.

When asked to calm down he threw the phone at her and had to be restrained by six people before police arrived, she said.

She said one woman patient was left in tears and several members of staff were shocked by the incident.

Mr Jones, of Addington Drive, Pallister Park, Middlesbrough, denies a charge of affray and one of common assault against Staff Nurse Gallagher.

He said he had been left unconscious by a faulty gas heater in his rented house and he awoke in hospital. He denied becoming aggressive or kicking a nurse and said that he had been calm throughout.

Mr Jones, who was not wearing his false leg at the time, insisted that he had not thrown the telephone.

He said that it had come loose when he was grabbed from behind by security guards and "unnecessarily over-powered".

The case continues