Yob who spat at medics trying to help him

Paramedics who rushed to help a man found unconscious in Motherwell were spat at when their patient came round.

Kieran O’hara, who had taken drugs, was lying slumped against a lift door in Netherwood Tower.

Hamilton Sheriff Court heard on Friday that he spat at his helpers while being taken into an ambulance.

O’hara, 25, a prisoner, appeared from custody via videolink.

He admitted assaulting two paramedics and a police officer by spitting at them on October 16 last year.

Serial offender O’hara was the subject of four separate bail orders at the time.

Neil Thomson, prosecuting, told the court:“police were summoned to the tower block about 2.30am for an unconnected matter. Having dealt with that, they found O’hara lying unconscious in the hallway, slumped against the lift entrance.

“It was apparent he was under the influence of something and they had difficulty rousing him.”

Eventually O’hara came round, but he began to scream and the police officers called for medical help.

Mr Thomson added: “Paramedics arrived and tried to help him, but they too had difficulty rousing him.

“As he was being lifted and carried towards the ambulance, O’hara spat towards one of the paramedics, failing to make contact.

“Inside the ambulance he spat again, this time making contact with a second paramedic.

“Police officers tried to prevent further incidents and the accused spat at one of them. A spit hood was then placed on him.”

Referring to the pandemic, the fiscal stressed:“no one suffered illness as a consequence of the accused spitting at them, but there was alarm and it was unpleasant for emergency workers to experience this in the course of their duties.”

Defence agent Carly Macleod said O’hara has had a“significant” problem with drugs since the age of 18.

She added:“he doesn’t remember what happened due to his high level of intoxication.

“He is embarrassed and wishes to apologise for his actions.

“There are no similar offences on his record – he is not a violent offender.”

The court heard that O’hara has been held in prison since his arrest in October.

Sheriff David Young said, because of that, he was willing to consider a drug treatment and testing order as an alternative to more jail time. He remanded O’hara in custody until next month for a DTTO assessment and other reports.