A gay man launched a homophobic tirade at a nurse after punching a police officer in the face.
Damian Hall, 38, raised the attention of uniformed officer PC Josh Lee and his colleague in October last year after police received reports of a man acting aggressively towards members of the public in the city centre.
On arrival, Hall was seen to be throwing bins around and behaving erratically, Manchester Magistrates Court heard.
As they attempted to restrain him for his own safety he punched PC Lee to the face causing bruising to his cheek.
He was then taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary for treatment when a staff nurse walked past the room he was sat in.
Hall, of no fixed abode, asked him if he was gay, and when the nurse confirmed he was, he was met with a barrage of abuse including being called a ‘f*****’ and a ‘gay c***’.
He told police later in an interview that he had a 'dislike' for homosexual people - despite his barrister telling the court Hall was in fact gay himself.
Hall pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker and using threatening words.
Most Read
Today (March 8) he was jailed for 25 weeks and ordered to pay compensation to both victims.
Prosecuting, Nicola Morgan told the court PC Lee and his colleague were on patrol when they received reports of Hall acting aggressively on October 13 last year at around 3.45pm.
They attended and found Hall being aggressive and throwing bins around in the street.
“They formed the impression he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs with the way he was acting as he was being erratic and jumping around the street,” she said,
“His colleague got out of the car and the defendant ran towards the officers.
Get our free M.E.N. Court newsletter
Manchester's courts are some of the busiest in the country with a vast array of cases heard every week.
To keep up to date with how justice is being served across Greater Manchester subscribe to our free weekly M.E.N. Court News newsletter put together by our court reporters Andrew Bardsley and Amy Walker.
How do I sign up?
- First just click on this link to our newsletter sign-up centre.
- Once you're there, put your email address where it says at the top, then tick the MEN Court News box. There are other newsletters available if you want them as well.
- When you've made your choice, hit Save Changes button at the bottom.
“PC Lee approached the defendant and grabbed hold of him, pulling him to the ground to prevent any harm to anyone around.
Don’t miss
“The defendant then moved his arm and punched the officer in the face causing bruising to his cheek.”
As Hall continued to be aggressive, CS spray was used to make him comply.
In a statement, PC Lee was left with multiple cuts to his hand and bruising to his left cheek.
Hall was also bleeding and the officer had open wounds too. Hall disclosed he had HIV and the officer had to attend hospital to have a blood test, a hepatitis B booster and was given medication for four weeks, prosecutors said.
“This caused me lots of stress, I do not expect to come to work to be attacked,” he said.
At 9.30pm Hall was brought into the MRI when a staff nurse walked past.
“This complainant walked past where the defendant was, and the defendant shouted: “Here mate, are you gay?”, Ms Morgan added.
“He said yes and was about to continue walking when the defendant began to shout a number of comments towards him involving lots of homophobic slurs including: “You faggot, you gay c***”.
“In a statement he said he was completely and utterly offended by the use of language and should not have to suffer such homophobic abuse in his place of work.”
In his police interview, Hall said he didn’t remember anything other than wanting to kill somebody.
He confirmed he had drunk three litres of vodka and stated he had a dislike for homosexuals.
Hall was said to have 46 previous convictions for 97 offences including attacks on emergency workers, affray and racially aggravated assaults.
Mitigating, Karl Benson said his client was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and he was gay.
“It’s a great surprise that he has allegedly made these offensive comments to this man,” he said.
“What happened to him is that he just got released from custody shortly before, he didn’t have his medication, he’s got drug issues and alcohol issues and the defendant was being psychotic.
“The police attended him over mental health distress rather than him committing offences - unfortunately it just goes wrong.
“The defendant’s behaviour was out of order and he wishes to say his apologies for his behaviour whilst unwell.”
He has since been recalled on licence and is now a serving prisoner.
Hall, of no fixed abode, was also ordered to pay £100 compensation to PC Lee and £50 compensation to Mr Wright.