A patient in a mental health hospital has been given an eight-month suspended sentence for attacking a nurse looking after him.

Shane Smith lashed out at the nurse while he was being treated at Roseberry Park in Middlesbrough on August 23, last year.

The 35-year-old left the male nurse with a chipped tooth and broken nose when he launched the unprovoked attack, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Paul Watson KC, sentenced Smith when he appeared via a video link from the same hospital where he is currently detained.

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He said: “You assaulted one of the nurses, leaving him with a fractured tooth and broken nose and he had to be treated in hospital – it was clearly a serious injury.

“There was no reason behind it but it may have been connected to the mental illness you were suffering at the time.

“You pleaded guilty at the first opportunity so your sentence will be eight months suspended for eight months.”