An Afghan migrant has been given a suspended sentence after he assaulted healthcare workers at a hospital in Rennes, France and threatened to shoot staff.
The 19-year-old Afghan is said to have physically attacked four healthcare workers at the University Hospital of Rennes late last month after being taken to the hospital’s emergency room while intoxicated by local Gendarmes.
The teen, who had previously been at a local nightclub, is said to have been immediately aggressive toward the hospital staff, with one nurse testifying in court, “He tried to hit us several times, threatened us with death, spat at us,” Actu reports.
“He even tried to hit a doctor who was eight months pregnant,” another nurse said, adding that the migrant “threatened to come back and kill us with a Kalashnikov.”
Witnesses say that it took six to seven people, including security guards, to subdue the Afghan who was then restrained on a stretcher.
The migrant, who was not present in court earlier this week, admitted to the assaults and threats but claimed he was reacting to being restrained and that staff tried to take his trousers off.
One of the nurses, named Anthonin, said that such cases of violence have become common in the hospital, saying: “This is beyond the limit of reasonableness. Some people start coming to work with a knot in their stomach for fear of getting hit. Caregivers must be escorted to their car by security guards.”
Attacks on emergency service workers in France has been a problem for years in many parts of the country, especially attacks on police in no-go zones.
In 2018, in the city of Toulon, emergency paramedic staff belonging to the Service d’Aide Médicale Urgente (SAMU) donned bulletproof vests after a surge in violence in the city.