Hospital worker awarded compensation after assault in toilet

Wednesday 28 March 2018

A hospital worker has been awarded £250 in compensation after being assaulted by a man in a toilet.

Appearing in front of Magistrate Bridget Shaw yesterday, Antonio Romano Capuano (52) pleaded guilty to kicking a hospital porter after he was confronted in the toilets at the General Hospital on the 19 February 2018.

The Court heard that the hospital colleague and his colleague had knocked on the door of the cubicle Capuano was in. In response, he shouted: “Why are you bothering me? I will hit you, I will take you on.”

The victim put his hands up to protect himself and tried to exit the toilets, but Capuano blocked the doorway and pushed and shoved the porter, eventually kicking him in the ankle, which caused bruising. 

Other hospital porters in the foyer were alerted to the commotion and called over a Police Officer, who was in a car nearby. As the Officer made his way to the foyer, Magistrate Shaw heard that Capuano ran over to the Officer saying,“It’s me you’re after, I’m sorry.” The Officer then directed Capuano to apologise to the hospital porter, which he did.

Defending, Advocate Alison Brown admitted Capuano was “no stranger to the courts”, as he had a “very serious offending record in his younger life” and had more recently spent seven months in custody after being arrested in February 2017.

She said that his spell in prison had impacted on his employment and living arrangements, and he fell into a depression which he was seeking medical help for. It was while he was making his way to a doctor’s appointment that he decided to cut through the hospital and popped into the toilets, from which he was removed “in embarrassing circumstances.”

Pictured: Magistrate Bridget Shaw fined Capuano £750 and ordered him to pay £250 compensation to the hospital employer he assaulted. 

The defence said the 52-year-old reacted the way he did because he was pushed through the toilets by the porter’s body, to which he took offence, and that he didn’t prevent the porter leaving - it was just that Capuano was backing out of the toilets himself at the time.

The Court heard that Capuano was “furious with himself” and that he is turning his life around with the help of the Probation Service, from whom he voluntarily sought support last year,  despite not having been given a probation order.

Advocate Brown requested that the offence was dealt with a short probation order, but Magistrate Shaw disagreed, as he’s “already had plenty of help” from the service and felt a fine would be more appropriate.

Capuano was ordered to pay a £750 fine, as well as a £250 compensation payment to the hospital worker who was assaulted.

Explaining the reason for the compensation order, Magistrate Shaw told Capuano: “He’s working at that hospital, he has a certain duty while working there to make sure things are running smoothly... Maybe you weren’t doing any harm, but you shouldn’t have been there. Unfortunately, you lost your temper and you kicked out.”