AN ABUSIVE man who threatened hospital staff after he was taken to hospital in Hereford with severe back pain has been handed a community order.

Karl Alix Elson appeared before magistrates in Hereford for sentencing after previously admitting using threatening and abusive words and behaviour when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Elson had called an ambulance complaining of severe back pain related to a long-term condition on June 24, prosecutor Ralph Robyns Landricombe said.

He was taken to Hereford County Hospital by ambulance and admitted to the crowded ambulatory area of the accident and emergency department at 2.10pm.

Elson, who was reported to have been agitated, shouting, and swearing, was approached by a nurse, who believed there was a likelihood of him becoming violent.

The 45-year-old, who was reported to be clenching his fists and tensing his arms, said he needed pain relief and did not feel anyone was listening to him.

Senior staff were called in, but when they arrived, they saw Elson sitting in the waiting room shouting that he was going to headbutt the paramedic who had brought him to hospital, claiming he had CCTV and would find him in a dark alley.

Police were called after Elson continued to make threats, including to kill a doctor, and he was apprehended as he walked out into the hospital car park shouting "where are you?"

Elson, who was given medication and sent home, later told police in interview that he had a degenerative bone disease in his spine and that he had been in severe pain that day.

He admitted that he had become aggressive and said that what had been reported was likely to be correct.

Marilena Di Vitantonio, for Elson, said he had accepted the accusations straight away.

"He suffers from bone disease and a crumbling spine and has been diagnosed as being a schizophrenic," Miss Di Vitantonio said.

"He apologises for this. It was an accumulation of frustration and pain, and there was a history going back 20 years between him and that doctor."

Elson, of Skyppe Road, Ledbury, was handed a 12-month community order and orderd to pay total compensation of £100. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £90 victim surcharge.