A TRANENT mum who spat in the face of a nurse who was attempting to treat her has been ordered to pay the medic compensation.

Melissa Steele launched the assault on nurse Jillian Morton after she had been taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in May 2020.

Steele, 27, became “erratic” while sitting in an isolation bay and, after wandering around the hospital, she attempted to set off a fire alarm.

Hospital staff tried to calm her down but she retaliated by spitting in the face of Ms Morton.

Steele, of Fleets Road, was then said to have been “sedated by staff” and remained in the hospital for three days afterwards.

The mother-of-one pleaded guilty to assaulting the nurse by spitting when she appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today.

Punched a fire alarm

Fiscal depute Debbie King told the court that Steele attended at the Capital hospital for treatment at about 11pm on May 15, 2020.

She was being dealt with in an isolation unit when she became unruly and, while making her way to an exit, she “punched a fire alarm in an effort to make it go off”.

Ms King said that medics intervened and “the accused spat in the face of witness Morton”, who was on shift as a nurse that evening.

Steele was subsequently arrested and charged under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

Lawyer Nigel Bruce, representing Steele, said that his client suffered from “poor mental health” at the time and revealed that she had been sedated by staff following the outburst.

Mr Bruce told the court that she had “no recollection” of her behaviour that night and was “aghast” when she learned she was being prosecuted.

'Ashamed'

The lawyer added that Steele was “ashamed of her behaviour” and she currently worked full time with a furniture manufacturer.

Sheriff Kenneth Maciver said: “You have not been in any trouble since and I am prepared to draw a line under it.

“This was an incident that was dealt with at the time by, I understand, sedation and being kept in hospital for a number of days.

“You must appreciate that people going about their normal business, whether it be nurses or other workers, are entitled to an atmosphere of safety and non-molestation.”

Steele was fined a total of £320 and told she must pay the nurse £200 in compensation.

Steele admitted a charge of assaulting, obstructing or hindering nurse Jillian Morton and spitting in her face at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on May 15, 2020.