Jail for man who carried knife into hospital A&E

Adam Watson was arrested and charged with possession of a knife in a public place

A man who took a knife into a hospital emergency department has been jailed.

Adam Watson, 28, attended the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham on Saturday morning with a knife in his waistband, Nottinghamshire Police said.

Officers were called to the hospital at 05:30 GMT after staff became aware Watson was in possession of a blade and he was later arrested.

Watson, of Richardson Close in Nottingham, admitted carrying the blade in a public place on Monday at Nottingham Magistrates' Court, where he was jailed for eight months.

Sgt Natham Phipps said: "Hard-working hospital staff should not have to deal with this sort of incident while on a shift but their alertness helped us to seize this weapon.

"Officers attended promptly and were able to arrest Watson and take the knife out of harm's way.

"It sends a strong message that this individual then found himself being sent to jail on Monday morning."

Hospital staff alerted the police that Watson was carrying a blade

Victoria Fensome, divisional nurse for medicine at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the QMC, added: "While the majority of those attending our hospitals demonstrate respect for our staff and their hard work, sadly, a small but growing number of people still choose to inflict verbal abuse and, in some instances, physical violence upon our staff.

"This will not be tolerated.

"The safety and wellbeing of our staff, patients and visitors is our first priority."