Yob left with fractured nose after attack on cops at RAH

Brute lunged following assault arrest

A drugged-up thug was left with a fractured nose and two black eyes after he lunged at cops at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Robert Meikle was struck three times by a police officer after he became aggressive while waking up from sedation on March 5 last year.

The 34-year-old had been rushed to the Paisley hospital after he began foaming at the mouth while being arrested for assaulting his girlfriend Claire Donnachie in a launderette in the town earlier that day.

They had arranged to meet at the wash room as Meikle was subject to bail conditions which banned him from contacting Ms Donnachie.

But an argument broke out between the pair and Meikle - who has previous convictions of domestic violence - then grabbed her, causing her to fall to the ground and pulled her along the floor by her legs.

He was caught on the balcony of her flat later that day and taken into custody.

Meikle appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court for sentencing yesterday after previously pleading guilty to assaulting Ms Donnachie and police officers.

Defending Meikle, solicitor Bob Kerr told the court that the yob had little recollection of his behaviour at the hospital after being arrested, having just come to after consuming drugs and alcohol and being sedated by medics.

When he woke after treatment he “suddenly lunged forward” shouting abuse at officers, making threats and claiming he would “kill” them.

The court heard Meikle even threatened to target an officer’s family and “moved his hands in a shooting motion.”

He also attempted to butt one officer with his head during the violence at the hospital.

Mr Kerr said: “He was struck by the officer three times during this incident and he had a fractured nose and two black eyes.

“It was at that point he started acting in an appalling manner towards the officers.”

Mr Kerr said that drugs were an ongoing issue for Meikle, and that he would need help to address this in order to put a stop to his offending.

The solicitor also told the court his relationship with Ms Donnachie was now over, following a number of offences involving her as the pair previously “couldn’t stay away from one another”.

Mr Kerr added: “The relationship is entirely at an end and I know that has been said before but there has been no contact between them while Mr Meikle has been in custody.

“His pattern of offending is related to his substance abuse and most recently his offending has been related to Ms Donnachie and their inability to stay together or stay apart.

“A DTTO would go a long way to helping him address his problems.

“That is the only way this is going to stop.”

Sheriff Gillian Craig told Meikle she had divided his actions into two chapters - one before his arrest and one after.

She said the incident must have been “terrifying experience” for Ms Donnachie and that while she understood he must have been disorientated when waking up in the hospital, his actions were not justified.

She said: “I take on board the circumstances of what happened and that Ms Donnachie had invited the contact with you and welcomed it.

“However, it did quickly turn into a situation which must have been a terrifying experience for Ms Donnachie.

“In relation to what happened after your arrest, I do take into account waking up without your clothes on in hospital must have been disorientating for you, but the threats you made towards officers in relation to killing them and their family members goes further than that and I need to take the seriousness of that into account.”

Sheriff Craig jailed Meikle for a total of 19 months - one month of which was an expired portion of a previous sentence - and placed him on a one year supervised release order when his sentence comes to an end.

Sheriff Gillain Craig