ALICE SPRINGS MAN JAILED FOR ATTACK ON NURSE CARING FOR HIM IN HOSPITAL

Alice Springs man jailed for endangering the nurse take care of him in hospital
A man who hit a nurse in the face while in his care was sentenced to prison from six months to Alice Springs.
Joseph Dickson, 52, has been behind bars since the attack in January on the 31-year-old nurse at the Alice Springs Hospital.
The court heard that it was the second time Dickson had assaulted a health worker in the last month, after starting a paramedic in a camp in the city.
Dickson was taken to hospital after suffering seizures. He was moved to another service that his condition had improved, the court heard.
The nurse put her hand on Dickson to help move the patient, when he became aggressive and punched her in the face.
The court heard the force of the blow caused the nurse to fall backwards and hit his head on the railing.
It has undergone a swelling of the nose, and pain at the back of the head.
The Crown read the victim impact statement from the nurse to the court.
"He hit him around and emotionally affected," the statement said.
The nurse was preparing to leave Alice Springs "does not want to work in an emergency," he told the court.
Dickson was in a "non-cooperative frame of mind after crises," said his lawyer, referring to his age, epilepsy and cognitive impairment.
The assault on the nurse "was not a personal attack" and Dickson "does not remember hitting" her.
His lawyer also told the court Dickson had been bullied by the young inmates while temporary.
When Dickson sentence, the judge referred to her prior history of aggression and said, "nurses a hard enough job without that aggressive patients the whacking."
Dickson was sentenced to six months imprisonment, but is ready to be released earlier because of the time already spent in detention.