A MAN has been jailed for nine months for subjecting nurses at a hospital to a "terrifying experience."

Blackburn magistrates heard that Thomas Patrick John Mitchelmore went to Queens Park Hospital armed with a knife and a pair of scissors.

He shouted abuse at staff, who feared for their safety when they asked him to leave, and though the weapons were not brandished, the knife was seen on the floor and picked up by a trainee nurse.

Mitchelmore, 37, of Laxey Road, Blackburn, had pleaded guilty on a previous occasion to affray and two charges of possessing an offensive weapon.

Stipendiary magistrate Jonathon Finestein said Mitchelmore had got himself drunk before going to the hospital.

"I accept that the knife was placed on the floor but, nevertheless, this was a most terrifying ordeal for the nurses," said Mr Finestein.

"They were terrified as to what might happen to them.

"Violence in hospitals is far too common and incidents of this nature, where the whole stability of the ward is put in question, will not be tolerated."

Brent Patterson, defending, said Mitchelmore was a man who needed help.

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