Jack Solomons, 28, was sentenced in a Parramatta court on Wednesday for his brutal attack on a security guard and a nurse at Westmead Hospital on September 11, 2020.
On the morning of the attack, Mr Solomons had admitted himself to the hospital’s emergency department after experiencing chest pains from taking drugs.
He was then given the last remaining bed.
Within two hours of his arrival, Mr Solomons was highly agitated and running around the ward in what the courts described as a “psychotic” state.
The court heard that Mr Solomons first attacked security guard, Ramin Osmany, before turning his attention to nurse Bec Davis who was just finishing nightshift.
Solomons punched the 32-year-old nurse in the back and then put his hands around her neck, which jolted the nurse forward, causing her to hit her head against the metal edge of an emergency fire door.
Days after the attack, Ms Davis spoke to Channel 9 news and spoke about the frequency that she and her colleagues are on the receiving end of physical and mental abuse.
“There’s almost a daily occurrence of verbal aggression within our department,” she told 9News.
“We’ve had numerous occasions of spitting and we’ve had numerous doctors being physically assaulted.”
During sentencing yesterday, Mr Solomons’ team argued he developed depression and mood disorders following the breakdown of his parent’s marriage and was bullied through school and university.
The court also heard that Mr Solomons then turned to illicit drugs and steroid use.
Magistrate Kristy Thompson handed Mr Solomons a sentence of two years and six months of community supervision. He must also complete a drug rehabilitation program and engage in mental health treatment.
You need to fix that headline (“head”, not “headed”) if you want to be taken seriously.
ASAP please.
I would be more concerned about the lack of a suitable Jail sentence than a minor error in the headline… How he was not Jailed is beyond me and as well as assaulting a female nurse there was also the assault on the security officer… Our courts have become a joke …
If that violence had been directed at a Magistrate I assume the offender would be in jail !
A pathetic sentence which does not punish or deter violence. Unfortunately Magistrates seem to “normalise” this conduct because they hear about it almost daily.
AS A RETIRED NURSE WE, I WAS SUBJECTED TOO MUCH PT ABUSE, BUT THERE IS NO SUPPORT FOR NURSES. NO UNION. JUST KEEP ON DOING YOUR JOB AND TAKE IT. THERE IS NOT POLICE ON EVERY FLOOR OF A HOSPITAL.