Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Woman who assaulted doctor evades prison sentence

Inverness Sheriff Court
Inverness Sheriff Court

A 36-year-old Inverness woman who was believed to have taken an overdose assaulted a doctor when he tried to assess her at the casualty department of Raigmore Hospital, the city’s court heard yesterday.

Margo Stewart, of 9 Woodside Place, previously admitted slapping Duncan Goldie in the early hours of July 1 last year and swearing at him.

Sentence was deferred until yesterday for a background report and she reappeared before Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood at Inverness Sheriff Court.

Fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart said: “She was taken to A&E in a state of intoxication and it was said she had also taken an overdose.

“The doctor came in to assess her and saw that she was sleeping. He started speaking to her and shook her but got no response.”

When the doctor touched her middle finger, Stewart, who has a daughter, swore and slapped the man on the chest.

Mr Urquhart said: “He did not require any treatment but it left a mark.”

Defence agent Shahid Latif asked the sheriff not to jail Stewart, who admitted previous convictions.

Mr Latif said: “The pressure applied was a painful stimulus and that was why she reacted in this way. She has no recollection because she had attempted suicide and had taken an overdose of medication.

“She was horrified when she was told what she had done and she has written a card of apology to the doctor. Her previous record is due to an inability to control her intake of alcohol and drugs.

“She also suffers from mental health disorders and has difficulty dealing with the realities of life, requiring intensive intervention.”

Ordering Stewart to be under supervision for a year, undertake a treatment programme and do 130 hours of unpaid work in the community, the sheriff told her: “This really is the last throw of the dice before the court loses patience with you and sends you to jail.

“What concerns me is the effect her behaviour has on her daughter and what will happen to her if her mother is sent to jail.”