A man who had been sectioned and taken to Royal Oldham Hospital attacked three members of staff, including two female nurses who were sent to him before he had been assessed.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard Ionut Ungrueanu should not have been alone with the nurses when he was in a locked room.

After striking the two nurses a disturbance emerged in the corridor and in the ensuing scuffle where multiple staff members attended he punched a doctor fracturing his nose.

During the disturbance Ungrueanu shouted that he wanted a cigarette.

He was detained and later admitted to three counts of assaulting an emergency service worker during the incident in December.

The 23-year-old appeared in court to be sentenced, where it emerged he wants to go back to Romania.

Prosecutor Laura Broome revealed the impact of the attack on the staff members.

She said one of the nurses said she felt “intimidated and apprehensive around other people.”

She said the doctor “says he was anxious at work following the incident.”

Representing the man, of no fixed abode, defence counsel Patrick Williamson explained the background to the event.

He said Ungrueanu had stopped taking medication for schizophrenia as he felt he no longer needed it.

He added: “He had not been assessed.

“It is a surprise against this background that two female staff were allowed to enter the cell first.

“It seems this type of thing is happening more frequently, leaving staff placed in undue risk.”

He also asked for a year long sentence, the maximum possible, to be imposed so that his client could make arrangements to travel back to Romania.

The sentence would mean that he would serve only a few more weeks in prison as he had been detained since the incident.

Mr Williams said he feared if he were released from court there and then he would be left without access to medication and would be in difficulty he would be homeless.

He said a release from court that day would be a “challenge” which he could not meet.

Recorder Katie Cornell asked him to find out if the probation team could help Ungrueanu get medication.

When the lawyer returned to court after a break he said this was not possible and requested a two week adjournment.

He said his plan now was for a former employer of Ungrueanu to come to court and drive him to the airport after the case.

The judge agreed to this request and Ungrueanu, of no fixed abode, will return to court later this month.

Clare Parker, executive director of nursing at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It is very distressing if a member of staff is assaulted when carrying out their duties. 

"We do everything we can to minimise this risk and ensure our staff are protected at all times.”