Jail over hospital hatchet horror

Gary Peden was caught on film wielding the hatchet
A man filmed on CCTV cameras chasing people with a hatchet in a Belfast hospital has been jailed for 15 months.

The incident happened in November 2004 in the accident and emergency department of the Mater Hospital.

Gary Peden, 23, from Forthriver Crescent in the city, admitted a charge of being involved in an affray.

His barrister told Belfast Crown Court no-one had been hurt, but Judge Tom Burgess said such behaviour in a hospital was completely intolerable.

He said that although hospital staff were not attacked, "they are entitled to demand a safe and secure environment to treat those who are seeking help".

"When this nasty incident developed it would be wrong to suppose they were the one's dishing out the violence"
Lyndsey McCartney's defence lawyer

Peden also agreed to spend a further year on probation.

His girlfriend, and co-accused, Lyndsey McCartney, 23, from Lawnbrook Drive, was ordered to serve 150 hours community service for her part in the fight.

Belfast Crown Court heard that Peden went to the hospital in November 2004 to look for a man who had assaulted his girlfriend.

A prosecuting barrister told the court he was clearly seen on CCTV footage holding the hatchet and a "scuffle" broke out between Peden and McCartney and several other men.

She said Peden could be seen raising the hatchet over one of the men he believed to be involved in the assault on McCartney, while she was kicking out and kneeing the men.

Hospital security staff managed to restrain them until police arrived and at that stage, McCartney was punched in the face by one of the men they were fighting.

"Retaliatory violence simply cannot be condoned"
Judge Tom Burgess

Peden and McCartney pleaded guilty to one count of affray, while a second charge against Peden for possessing an offensive weapon was dropped by the prosecution.

McCartney's defence lawyer told the court: "When this nasty incident developed it would be wrong to suppose they were the one's dishing out the violence."

He said the couple have a four-year-old daughter and to remove one or both of them "would have a significant impact on the family unit".

Peden's defence lawyer said the violence was "not directed towards hospital staff" but conceded it was an "aggravating factor that it occurred in a hospital".

Death threats

He revealed Peden had received death threats "as a direct result of this" and claimed "that may tell the court something about the people on the other side of this action".

Judge Burgess told the court that "retaliatory violence simply cannot be condoned" and an immediate custodial sentence was needed to "deter others acting in a retaliatory manner".

He said it was "an extremely serious matter, not least because of where it occurred" but also because of the weapon used which "put people in fear of danger".

Turning to McCartney, the judge said "no matter what happened earlier, this was not the way to resolve it. She could have reported it to police... It could have been her assailant standing before me today."