A man who attacked a nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast has been jailed for five years.
The nurse was walking in a corridor on 16 January when Joseph McClurkin punched the side of her head and threw a cup of hot tea in her face.
McClurkin, 34, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm on the nurse with intent.
He also admitted assaulting her and a female police officer on the same date.
McClurkin will be subject to another five years on licence after his release.
Newry Crown Court heard the victim was left with a bump on her head but “fortunately was not scalded by the tea”.
The judge said that anyone who attacked medical professionals “must receive significant custodial sentences”.
‘Motivated by misogyny’
“This was an attack on a woman,” he added.
“That’s not to say that women deserve more protection than men.
“But where the attack is motivated by misogyny women in modern society are entitled to the full protection of the law.”
After the attack on the nurse, McClurkin ran away and was spotted by police in Belfast a few hours later.
When a female police officer went to speak to him, he approached her aggressively and swore at her as he swung a punch.
Arrested and restrained, McClurkin admitted after caution: “I hit the nurse because I hate women – I wanted the issue brought to court.”
During interviews later that day, he confessed to attacking the nurse and throwing tea over her because he wanted “to burn through several layers of her skin”.
The judge said that two of McClurkin’s 23 previous offences related to attacks on two other women.
One was on a hostel worker who was threatened with a knife and the other related to paramilitary threats being made to a female governor at Maghaberry Prison.
The judge said there was “a number of very, very troubling aspects to this case,” and that he was “absolutely convinced” the defendant posed a significant risk to the public.
