A €500 fine was imposed on a man who threatened A&E staff after his injured friend was told to sit down in the waiting area to be assessed like everyone else.
Lukasz Szutowski (24 ), with an address at 335 Tirellan Heights, Headford Road, appeared at Galway District Court last Monday where he denied the charge of threatening and abusive behaviour at UHG, Newcastle, on October 10, 2008.
Garda David Clarke told the court that when he spoke to the receptionist at the A&E department she complained that the defendant had been aggressive and threatening towards her. Garda Clarke added that the defendant had no previous convictions.
The complainant, Ms Emelda Finnegan, then gave evidence that it had been a busy Friday night with lots of activity and at 1am she had checked in a female who had “lacerations to the face”. She said that the injured woman, who had been initially accompanied by two other females, was agitated and refused to go to the waiting area when directed. Two males, including the defendant, later arrived and when Ms Finnegan was told to leave the injured woman alone she went back to her desk. Ms Finnegan said that after security directed the two men to leave the area the defendant told her he would “get her”.
The defendant, who had no solicitor present, put it to Ms Finnegan that she had told the injured woman to “shut up”.
Ms Finnegan denied this and said that she had simply asked the woman to go to the waiting area where triage nurses would assess and prioritise all the cases. She said the woman and her friends refused to do that.
When the defendant took the stand he told the court that his friend had fallen down up to 30 stairs, had cut her face, and would probably be “damaged for life”. He said that anyone with those injuries would be “screaming and crying”. Szutowski said that on the night he had asked Ms Finnegan why she had been “aggressive” to his friend. He said that he had “done nothing wrong” except wave his hand in the air. He later admitted that he had been at a nightclub in Eyre Square where the accident occurred.
After hearing the evidence Judge Mary Fahy acknowledged that it as understandable that injured persons would be upset but that everyone who arrived at A&E had the “same priority”. She said that she believed Ms Finnegan’s evidence and fined him €500 with three months to pay. He was also ordered to pay witness expenses of €180.
