Angry patient 'knocked doctor unconscious with metal pole' after demanding appointment, court hears

An angry patient knocked a doctor unconscious with a metal pole after attacking staff at a GP surgery demanding an appointment for a repeat prescription, a court has heard.

Olumuiwa Oduntan, 61, frequently called Florence House on Ashton Old Road, in Openshaw, Manchester, and 'demanded' to see a doctor while being told by staff he had to make a request online.

When he was told no appointments were available on 17 September 2021, he allegedly said: "Tell you what, I'm coming down there now, I better get arrested today, I want to speak to a doctor."

Mr Oduntan arrived at the surgery 15 minutes later, before picking up a metal post and smashing the screen at the front desk, despite the receptionist and another member of staff threatening to call the police.

He became angry, saying: "F***ing call the police and get me arrested", Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

Jonathan Savage, prosecuting, told the court: “He then jumped over the desk carrying the barrier, then used it to attack members of staff.

"He struck the lady over the head with the barrier, knocking her unconscious...“One of the doctors [Dr Shabbir Ahmed] came out to see what the commotion was about.

"He tried to calm him down but was also hit over the head and that caused him to lose consciousness."The practice manager then jumped on the defendant’s back when they saw the defendant attack the doctor and they were thrown to the floor and another member of staff was at some point struck across the head by the defendant with the barrier and injured."

Mr Oduntan contacted his MP's office, Lucy Powell, requesting help in contacting a solicitor because he was 'in trouble', Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

Mr Oduntan pleaded guilty to affray, three offences of causing grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The 61-year-old denies three counts of wounding with intent.

He was suffering from a form of schizophrenia and was being treated at the time of the incident, the court heard.

While the jury was shown the chrome barrier, Mr Savage said: “The prosecution say the fact he used this as a weapon is clear evidence he intended to cause really serious harm to those people.

"The fact the defendant not only assaulted one person with this but went out to assault others is clear evidence of his intent to cause really serious harm.”

Louisa Wright, a prescription discharge coordinator, made it clear on the phone three times that she could not authorise the request herself, she said: "I explained I couldn’t just sanction it, the procedure was to email a request. We would have to have evidence of what a patient needed.“He had done that previously. He then explained that the emails were bouncing back, so I suggested he emailed the general GP email.

"I asked him to try again but nothing was coming in, so I gave him the option if he had difficulty to come down and put a request in the box outside.”

Mr Oduntan became more 'irate' by the end of the conversation. In a different call with Ms Wright's colleague, Mr Oduntan said he was going to 'get himself arrested' at the surgery, the court heard.

Ms Wright said she then saw Mr Oduntan outside the reception area, in which he must have followed another patient into the surgery, as the doors were controlled due to the pandemic.“I saw him come and I just thought 'why has he come down?’," the witness added.

"I went to the front desk and he got his phone out and was saying something about patient access. He was getting really angry and aggressive, and one of my colleagues came out and told him to calm down. He wasn’t calming down at all.“The practice manager came out and was asking him to calm down. He was being quite abusive, saying 'this is a f***ing joke'.

"I said 'if you don’t leave, I’m going to call the police’, and he responded 'f***ing go and call the police and get me arrested’.”Ms Wright heard an "almighty smash of glass" as she went to call the police. She saw Mr Oduntan with the pole after turning around.

She said: “He was swinging it and swinging it, and he hit me with the base of it, to my arm, then my head, then down my left side, I remember saying to him 'what are you doing?'.

"He kept swinging the pole. I remember one of the doctors came to me asking whether I was alright. I couldn’t believe it. I thought he was really going to hurt me.”

Anna George, a member of admin staff, spoke to Mr Oduntan after Ms Wright, she said: “He was asking about seeing a doctor and I said a doctor wasn’t available,” she said.Mr Oduntan, she alleged, told her: "Before I take legal action, I’d like to speak to a doctor, this is human rights.“I can just remember seeing sheer anger and evil in this man’s face."

As another member of staff at Florence House pressed the panic alarm, Ms George remembers Dr Ahmed coming out of his office. She said: “He hit him with it, I thought he killed him, I thought he was dead... Dr Ahmed fell to the floor, and he hit him on the back whilst he was on the floor.

"I’ve never been through anything like that and I hope I never see anything like that again. That was the worst, most violent thing I have ever seen in my life."

Dr Ahmed told jurors he went into the reception after receiving a panic alarm message on his computer, reading 'reception requiring assistance', thinking it was a medical emergency. He said he thought it was in relation to a medical emergency and went out, before seeing Mr Oduntan ‘wielding’ the metal pole with two hands.Seeing Mr Oduntan standing there with the metal pole, Dr Ahmed said: “He looked like the grim reaper... I said something along the lines of 'stop, stop, put it down, put it down’.

"He then came towards me with it, took a swing and the base of it hit my head in the right temple area.”

Dr Ahmed fell unconscious after being hit in the back, fracturing four bones in his spine.

He also suffered from a fracture to the front of his skull, the court heard.Mr Oduntan, of Herne Street, Openshaw, denies three offences of wounding with intent.