Woman who threatened to kill care assistant jailed

A woman who threatened to kill a hospital care assistant and burn down an accident and emergency department has been jailed.

Abigail Forder was sentenced to 50 months in prison after admitting charges of threatening violence and threatening to commit criminal damage.

The court heard she threatened to kill the assistant with a set of headphones while she was cleaning up blood.

Forder also pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and intimidation of a witness.

A hearing via Skype at Winchester Crown Court heard Forder, of Essex Road, Basingstoke, was admitted to Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital with cuts to her arm on 28 August last year, after she had tried to take her own life.

Siobhan Linsley, prosecuting, said as the 24-year-old waited to be treated, she threatened the healthcare assistant.

"She then pointed to a pair of headphones she had and said, 'This is what I am going to kill you with,'" Ms Linsley said.

The prosecutor said Forder shouted homophobic abuse at a nurse, threatened to "cut" him, and then threatened to "burn the place" while waving a lighter.

Sentencing, Judge Susan Evans QC said: "No-one in the NHS should have to put up with that type of behaviour, it is no way part of their job."

The court heard the attempted robbery and witness intimidation offences had been committed in December 2018.

Jodie Mittell, defending Forder, who has 22 previous convictions including assaulting police officers and possession of a knife, said: "She recognises the seriousness of the offences she has committed."

She said the defendant had turned to drugs to deal with PTSD caused by "emotional trauma" she had suffered in her past.

Speaking by video link from HMP Bronzefield, Forder said: "I am very, very sorry for what I have done and the people I have hurt."