A PENSIONER battered a Swindon hospital nurse with his walking stick after doctors tried to send him home from the wards.

George Anthony Cox attacked the medic in July after being told staff planned to discharge him.

The 72-year-old was terrified about the prospect of being apart from his wife, who was being cared for at Great Western Hospital.

Now, Cox has been fined and ordered to pay hundreds of pounds in compensation.

Swindon magistrates heard Cox “lost it” before launching the attack on Lisa Thorogood.

Earlier that day he had been told that he would be discharged from hospital, having been kept on the wards since May.

Prosecuting, Keith Ballinger said staff nurse Ms Thorogood had been doing some paperwork at her desk on Neptune ward on the afternoon of July 9.

“She says from nowhere she felt something strike her to the head,” Mr Ballinger said.

The nurse turned around to see Cox wielding a metal walking stick.

He hit Ms Thorogood a further three times on her head and neck, leaving her with a cut on her head that needed to be glued.

“Other members of staff came to her assistance and removed the metal walking stick from his hands,” Mr Ballinger added.

Interviewed by police, Cox said he was extremely ashamed and embarrassed about what he had done.

He became emotional when he was shown images of the nurse’s injuries, telling officers he had been so worried about his wife – then in the same hospital and suffering from Alzheimer’s – that he had “simply lost it”.

Appearing before Swindon Magistrates’ Court over video link from Gablecross police station, Cox, of Bourne Road, Moredon, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting an emergency worker.

Sam Arif, defending, said her client was extremely remorseful for what had happened and at the time of the assault had been on morphine and other medication.

He had never before been in trouble with the police and was thoroughly ashamed to find himself before the courts.

He had been arrested by the police on Friday night from hospital, with magistrates told he was now healthy enough to return home. His wife died earlier this month.

Magistrates fined Cox £223 and ordered him to pay £400 compensation to the nurse. He must also pay £85 costs and a £32 victim surcharge.

Christine Smith, chairman of the bench, said: “We have looked at all of the circumstances and we are giving you credit for those circumstances.

"But we are also taking into account this was somebody who was doing their duty in looking after you.”

A spokeswoman for Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We want staff to feel safe and supported at work and any abusive or violent behaviour will not be tolerated.

“Our security team works closely with Wiltshire Police and we will take action if necessary.”

Figures obtained last year by the Adver revealed that the number of assaults to which GWH staff were subjected had doubled over the previous decade.

Staff working for Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logged 171 abuse reports in 2016/17, up from 87 in 2007/8.

In 2017, staff in the hospital’s emergency department suffered the highest number of abuses, with seven recorded incidents. They included four cases of physical abuse and one sexual abuse.

GWH said it took the safety of all staff, patients and visitors seriously.