Woman bit health worker’s breast at Annesley mental hospital

Shannon Orr had to be restrained when she became aggressive and began throwing objects at staff in the Priory Hospital on June 21.

Kate Harrison, prosecuting, said Orr's outburst happened because ‘she wasn't permitted to speak to her advocate on a one-to-one basis’.

The 20-year-old was being ‘escorted in a controlled manner into a pod’ when she bit her victim's left breast through her clothing, causing ‘harm and distress’.

The woman was examined and taken to A&E, said Ms Harrison.

Orr admitted inflicting the bite and later wrote a letter of apology.

The court heard she has three previous convictions for assaulting emergency workers, from the same day in April 2021

Faith Rowan, mitigating, said Orr admitted the offence at the earliest opportunity and has expressed her remorse.

She invited the magistrates ‘to depart from the sentencing guidelines’ because Orr was sectioned under the Mental Health Act at the time.

After the incident she was sedated with an injection, Ms Rowan said.

She is now out of hospital, living with her father, and on medication. "Slowly, but surely, she is building herself up," Ms Rowan said.

Orr, of Meadow Cottages, Perlethorpe cum Budby, admitted assault on an emergency worker when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

She was fined £200 and ordered to pay £350 compensation.

Priory Hospital East Midlands, Mansfield Road, Annesley, is home to two wards, a female psychiatric intensive care unit and acute ward for women with a range of mental health conditions.

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