‘Violence and aggression in A&E is not uncommon’

Specialist registrar Dr David Connor was treating Daniel Keevill on a busy night at Queen Alexandra Hospital when the drunk punched him straight in the face.

Now Dr Connor has spoken out about the ‘totally unexpected’ attack he suffered as he attempted to calm down 44-year-old drunk Keevill who had been charging in and out of elderly patients’ cubicles.

It comes as Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs QA, is about to launch a campaign warning people not to assault medics.

Dr Connor, 32, told The News: ‘It was totally unexpected and out of the blue.

‘I didn’t turn up to work expecting to have any form of abuse let alone physical abuse.

‘I was truly shocked and taken off guard, and I had to stand back and compose myself.

‘We weren’t in a private room – there were 30-40 other patients and everyone of them saw exactly what happened.’

Dr Connor, originally from Northern Ireland and who hopes to continue his career in Portsmouth, has said he would not hesitate to treat Keevill again if the need arose.

He said: ‘When we sign up we sign a duty of care to the public regardless of what happens. We constantly provide the same service of care to everyone regardless of their history or past. That’s the be-all and end-all of it.’

Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard Keevill, of Celandine Avenue, Locks Heath, had self harmed before he was admitted to the emergency department on November 26 last year.

Dr Connor said: ‘He was heavily intoxicated and had been aggressive to the nursing staff from the word go.

‘Security had spoken to him a couple of times. It was just a short wait for him to see a doctor.

‘He was constantly going in and out of elderly people’s cubicles which is unusual and also being quite aggressive to other public as well as to the nurses.

‘I went over to them because the nurses were struggling a bit and asked him to sit down. I said “please sit down and wait”. He told me he’s forces and he should be seen soon and shouldn’t have to wait.

‘I said “this is a military hospital – we see everybody”.’

Dr Connor told Keevill ‘it’s never okay’ to be aggressive to staff during the 1am incident.

‘At that point he squared up, a lot of cursing and profanities, and punched me to the side of the face. Security were on him almost immediately,’ he said.

‘They took him outside and there were police officers with another patient and they arrested him immediately.’

Thug Keevill, who has never served in the forces, was prosecuted under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 and admitted assault.

Dr Connor said: ‘Unfortunately violence in the emergency department is not uncommon.

‘We mostly experience verbal aggression on a nightly basis regularly and physical aggression is uncommon, and one of the realities we work in – that’s the reason we have security here.

‘The security in Portsmouth is second to none and ours are phenomenal.’

He added: ‘We provide an amazing service in unprecedented times for the NHS and we will continue to do that.

‘However, I think it’s very common knowledge that violence and aggression are common and we should be clear – it’s truly unacceptable.’

‘I’m disgusted and I hold my hands up’

THUG Daniel Keevill swung from claiming he just ‘flinched’ when he punched a doctor –claiming if he punched the medic ‘he would have dropped’.

In court the 44-year-old said he was disgusted with himself after punching Dr David Connor at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham in November.

But when he was arrested he swung from completely denying attacking the specialist registrar in A&E – to then admitting his assault.

Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard Keevill ranted he was ex-forces, despite this being untrue, and that he had PTSD before bursting into a cubicle occupied by an elderly woman.

Dr Connor warned Keevill, of Celandine Avenue, Locks Heath,that QA was a ‘military hospital and have some respect,’ prosecutor Graham Heath said.

Reading the doctor’s statement, Mr Heath added: ‘He approached me and squared up to me as if to have a fight and without warning he swung his right fist into my face.’

The punch connected with Dr Connor’s chin leaving him shocked and in pain.

Security bundled Keevill out of the building and he was arrested by police before being taken to custody, and then to another hospital for treatment for his infected arm.

In a statement, Dr Connor said: ‘I find it disgusting, I have been assaulted at my place of work.’

He added: ‘It was a busy night at the department.

‘I was the only senior doctor on duty in the Emergency Department that covers the whole of Portsmouth.

‘Other patients should not have to be subjected to violent threats and abuse in what is a place of safety.’

Mr Heath told the court how Keevill called 999 demanding they take him to hospital or ‘he would get a knife out and cut himself again’.

In a bizarre police interview Keevill swung from complete denial – claiming he only flinched due to his infected arm – to admitting guilt and apologising. ‘I had an infected arm, I flinched – that’s all I can remember,’ he said. ‘If I put one on him he would have (known it). He would have dropped.’

But he suddenly admitted: ‘I hold my hands up to it, I don’t need a solicitor. They do a wonderful job and if that’s the way I was, I’m disgusted.’

Keevill admitted assaulting an emergency worker under tougher legislation brought in last year.

In December he previously narrowly avoided jail with an 18-week suspended sentence with rehabilitation days for assaulting a police officer in May.

But he did not breach that order because the November 26 assault on Dr Connor was before his sentence for the police assault.

Chair of the bench Eileen Cowling sentenced Keevil to four months’ jail but suspended the term for 18 months. ‘The custody threshold was passed but after careful consideration we decided to suspend the sentence,’ she said.

‘We do feel there is a reasonable chance of rehabilitation and you have shown remorse for what you did. Had you not pleaded guilty the sentence would have been greater.’

Keevil was also told to pay costs of £85, compensation of £150 and a surcharge of £115.

As he left the court an emotional Keevil vowed to change his ways. ‘I’ve learnt from this,’ he said.

Tim Sparkes, for Keevill, said his client had suffered abuse in his past and was suffering PTSD from that, and from an incident when he saved a colleague from a collapsing scaffold in 2010.

Mr Sparkes said: ‘He’s on a building site and saved someone’s life by getting them off a piece of scaffold which then collapsed with him on it. He suffers from PTSD because of that and a mild personality disorder.’

He said Keevill’s conditions are ‘exacerbated’ by his ‘entrenched alcohol problem’ but that he is ‘showing signs of very real rehabilitation’.

Mr Sparkes added: ‘When he’s in remission keeping off any alcohol - and there are long periods of remission - within which he’s of no problem at all. He engages with society quite properly.’

Tough new laws to deter attackers

TOUGHER new law designed to punish those who attack emergency workers provides for longer jail sentences.

People who attack police officers, paramedics, doctors and nurses – among other workers – can be prosecuted under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.

The law came into effect in mid-November last year. It doubles the common assault maximum sentence to 12 months.

The News revealed how a thug was jailed after assaulting two paramedics who went to his Waterlooville home to treat him at the end of November.

It follows a campaign by the Police Federation of England and Wales and MPs to treat assaults on emergency workers more seriously.