to proceed with prosecution

[lilybetsy]

A big vague but the essentials are here.

I'm a GP. Last week a male person came into my place of work asking for something i could not provide: Think an item of equipment that we simply don't have ( nor does any other GP surgery). I explained this to him, and told him where he could get what he needed. (about 1 mile away)
he got very angry, swore at me, threatened to 'finish me off' called me a 'cunt' and threw something at me. Then when my receptionist called he police he left.
The Police came, and told me I could pursue a prosecution if I wished, that this was an arrestable offence, and should be taken seriously.

I am inclined to pursue a prosecution, as much to make a serious statement about not accepting violence to anyone, Im ok. I have been a victim of DV and this kind of thing used to freak me out but I'm much stronger now.

Would you prosecute ? he has been removed from our patient list. Or is that vindictive, a waste of time since he didn't physically assault me?

No question about it. Prosecute all the way.

It could be acid he throws in someone’s face next time

@lilybetsy

... kindness and niceness is really really appreciated so thank you ( and I am female.)

You're very welcome my lovely.

And thank you for the wonderful job you do.......

@dishingoutdone I have no doubt that they will support me, but one is on sick leave and the other on holiday at the moment

@BrokenWing excellent point. You are quite right...

Definitely prosecute. Next time he could hurt someone or worse.

you're stepping out of your usual role into a new role here and that's why it's confusing. Your focus on the wellbeing of the receptionist is helping you get around the confusion, and you are listening to brokenwing so that's all good.

I think in the circumstances you describe, prosecuting is the right thing to do.

It does remind me of my friend, though, who was having a breakdown and went to his GP in desperation and was behaving very strangely. The surgery called the police and he was treated very roughly by them, spent a night in cells before being sectioned. I don’t blame the surgery for protecting themselves, but he was known to them as a patient and parent and his behaviour was extremely out of character. I think he could have been dealt with more sympathetically, as in it could have been explained to the police that he was probably having a breakdown rather than he was just being a twat.

No one deserves to be treated badly at work by the general public or anyone else, but doctors, hospital staff and police will sometimes be dealing with people in stressful situations and/or with fragile mental health so it will happen. They should have training to deal with these situations in a way that protects themselves, obviously, but uses the minimum force to do so.

I hope you and your staff are recovering from what sounds like a frightening incident.

Good to see a unanimous thread.

I'm curious how people in public facing roles feel about other members of staff sticking up for them?

I usually do stand up for staff but not sure if that's overstepping the mark?

Sorry, I meant "how people in public facing roles feel about other members of the public sticking up for them?"

Its certainly not vindictive to prosecute someone who has threatened you. Please do not let him get away with it.
However could there be loop holes if say he has a mh condition for example. That's not to say you should push for prosecution, though

I think you are doing the right thing. It is up to the judge to decide if he is guilty and if there are any mitigation to be taken in to account.

I was a witnesses to a sexual assault on my way to work early one morning. I would have found it difficult to turn a blind eye like all the other people in the bus interchange. I walked up and took a photo of the man and this was tracked using the CCTV from my building. People still say I am "brave".... I am not at all. I just think it is every citizens obligation to uphold the laws. That does not just include not personally breaking them but to call them out when others do.

Sorry lily

I'm glad that that is the way things are done though, I'm just sorry that you are in the particular situation due to your position that means you give the support but don't get the support!

I'm glad your going ahead because while I agree that it is important to show your staff that you (the management team) will show them they are protected in their work I feel it's important for you too. You deserve to be safe at work, you deserve justice when you have been made unsafe!

Your history has probably blurred the lines for you (it did for me after a d/v relationship) it's likely that you may have a higher tolerance to being treated badly than others because you had to live in that and it's hard to separate "normal" from what happened, it bleeds into other areas and can make you vulnerable to allowing yourself to be treated worse than others would before you take a stand.

Also the very important point has been made that this isn't about revenge and throwing the key away, this person will either get the support they need because the justice system will put that in place if it's appropriate. Or there will have a punishment implemented that hopefully means he learns he can't put others in danger and that no one in the future will be attacked at work.

Sorry that was a massive post!

You are absolutely doing the right thing prosecuting this vile individual.

@consolidateyourloins I would love it if others stood up for me in such a situation. Having said that, I am quite a small woman, the perpetrator in the incident I describe was a big (over 6 foot) man. The only other witness was a very elderly woman, I would not have wanted her to intervene at all. If a younger man had been present I worry that he was more likely to be assaulted than I - given that there are still social taboos about hitting woman and doctors.

@Unescorted I agree, and I respect your position hugely. Well done

100% you should. It sets the standard of what is expected from patients in attitudes to your staff. It will also encourage other staff to be firm with standards of behaviour

Yes I would

The prosecution needs to go ahead because:
*He needs a strong message that attempting to enforce his will by strongarming is totally unacceptable and counter-productive.
*If the police are aware of your being a DV survivor, they should be supporting you.
*Your actions will help to protect other potential victims of his actions: his family, your receptionist, other workers who deal with the public.
*He needs to be brought to a fuller realisation of the distress he has caused, perhaps by being obliged to listen to victim impact statements.
*If he has been "on the radar" for this kind of thing before (and I strongly doubt that his behaviour with you is the first instance) it may be that, as part of his sentence, he may be obliged to confront his unacceptable behaviour, possibly anger management therapy.
*If this prosecution fizzles out, it will nevertheless "mark his card", making it harder for him to justify his next outburst as "acting out of character.
*For all you know, he is already under caution for something similar, and a pattern is emerging.
At the risk of sounding like a bleeding-heart liberal, (I only add this because you said yourself that you like to see "on the other hand") he sounds like a damaged and deeply unhappy individual; it must be awful to live inside his head.
Or, less wet liberally, he's a nasty twat.

I am an A&E doctor. I would say definitely prosecute. I worked for a while in an area where the police were really proactive about attending incidents of verbal abuse and threatening behaviour in A&E and pressing charges. It sent a clear no tolerance message and we had a lot less trouble as a result.

Easy for him to play the victim if he is just off-listed. Prosecuting sends a much clearer message about unacceptable behaviour.

Another adding to the chorus of "prosecute him."

Absolutely agree with the PP's who have said it sends out a strong message of zero tolerance. ( wish we could make this society-wide, to be honest)

If it was a defib then you are also standing up for all those people who might need it, our local one was vandalised, dreadful and I hope they find out who did it.

I haven’t rtft so apologies if someone has already said this but wasn’t there a big campaign recently led by Nick Ferrari on LBC about making violence against doctors/nurses/A&E staff a more serious crime with bigger penalties?
I seem to recall he started a petition and it got to parliament.
Definitely prosecute op.

Prosecute. I work in general practice and had to report several patients this week. I am increasingly amazed at the aggressive behaviour that is inflicted upon myself and my colleagues.

I'm not personally a fan of the zero tolerance approach, because I need a little tolerance myself, but this guy went way past any reasonable tolerance. Prosecute.