Woman had broken bottle in Mercy A&E
A woman who held up a broken wine bottle during threatening behaviour at a hospital’s accident and emergency unit has had sentencing in her case adjourned yesterday until November.
Judge Brian O’Callaghan said: “It is a most serious matter to produce a weapon in a most special place where people are vulnerable and concerned about their wellbeing.
And the very people who were looking after you, you put in some fear.
The judge accepted that Claire Coade, aged 35, did not use the broken bottle and had shown remorse since it occurred.
“The court feels it is more important to society and to you and to the victims of your actions to put [the case] back for you to continue as you are doing,” the judge said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
Coade admitted producing a bottle during the incident, engaging in threatening behaviour, and being drunk and a source of danger.
Nikki O’Sullivan, defence barrister, said: “There is a long history of mental health issues. A 10-year relationship had ended shortly before this. She believes she was suffering a manic episode on the night. She is now in a stable situation with her mental health. She acknowledges that her behaviour on the night was completely unacceptable.”
Garda Darren Twomey testified that after midnight on March 22, 2018, Claire Coade of apartment 503, Northgate Apartments, Cork, was at Mercy University Hospital, where she was found to be intoxicated and aggressive and she took a broken wine bottle out of her handbag and approached a nurse talking to someone at the other end of the unit, even though the nurse had no interaction of any kind with the defendant prior to this.
Judge O’Callaghan noted that the defendant had two previous assault convictions. Sentencing was adjourned until November 27.
