A kidney dialysis patient has been sentenced to nine months in prison for abusing nursing staff at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
Convicted rapist Donald Gibson, 37, attends the hospital for dialysis treatment three times a week.
He was convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on charges of aggravated assault and racial abuse.
Sheriff Gordon Liddle said the public had a right to expect a severe response to the abuse of medical staff.
Hospital security
He previously pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to assaulting nurse David Walker at ERI on 4 April.
Gibson was also found guilty after trial of racially insulting hospital security guard Martin Schulz in October.
Gibson was previously jailed for subjecting a young teacher to a 12-hour sex attack.
The court heard that when he attends the infirmary three times a week to receive life-saving kidney dialysis, he is guarded by security officers and treated in an £18,000 room set up to deal with patients requiring treatment in isolation.
NHS Lothian has obtained a court order against Gibson banning him from physically or verbally attacking staff.
He was due to be sentenced on the assault and abuse charges in June but a psychiatric report was not ready and sentence was deferred until Thursday.
"Most people receiving such treatment I would expect to be grateful and show respect for the hospital staff, but not you"
However, he failed to appear and Sheriff Liddle issued a warrant for his arrest. Later in the day this was changed to an invitation warrant for him to appear in court on Friday.
Sheriff Liddle told Gibson: "Most people receiving such treatment I would expect to be grateful and show respect for the hospital staff, but not you."
He added that the reports showed there was no insight of remorse on Gibson's part. They also showed he was at high risk of reoffending.
Sheriff Liddle said that only a custodial sentence was appropriate. He pointed to Gibson's record, which included convictions for serious assault, robbery and rape.
Most recently, he said, Gibson had been convicted of breach of the peace. That had also been in relation to a hospital worker, a nurse.
He sentenced Gibson to six months for assaulting Mr Walker and three months for racially abusing Mr Schulz.
Fear of assault
Jill Cox, Royal College of Nursing Scotland interim director, said: "Nursing staff work incredibly hard to provide the best possible care to all patients.
"In return they have the right to come to work without the fear of assault or abuse."
Tom Waterson, Unison branch secretary, said: "They (nurses) don't have it (trouble with Gibson) three days a week they have it six because the fact they know he comes in three times a week means the nurses are in their houses worrying about the following day.
"It's causing intolerable stress and we've had cases of long-term sickness within the unit."
David Bolton, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary chief operating officer, said: "I believe we must provide the care because without it these individuals will die."
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