A man has been jailed for a month for kicking a paramedic who was taking him to hospital.

Richard Browne-Murphy, 23, who was staying at

St Patrick's Nightshelter in Cambridge Road, Hove, admitted a charge of

assault.

Brighton Magistrates' Court heard police went to arrest Browne-Murphy in October in connection with an assault on an officer. When they arrived at the bedsit where he was living, in Grand Parade, they found him lying on the floor in a drunken state.

An ambulance was called to take him to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, accompanied by a police escort. As Browne-Murphy was entering the accident and emergency department he kicked a paramedic, bruising him.

The hospital then refused to treat Browne-Murphy because of his behaviour. Browne-Murphy will serve the sentence after completing a five-month jail term imposed earlier this month for assaulting a police officer.

John Searby, defending, said Browne-Murphy had only a hazy recollection of the incident. Mr Searby said: "He had been sick in the ambulance. "The paramedic was angry with him and Mr Browne-Murphy retaliated."

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