A man who attacked three mental health nurses at the Royal Oldham Hospital after being sectioned has been given a conditional discharge – to allow him to return to his home country.

Manchester Crown Court Crown Square heard Ionut Ungrueanu was taken into hospital in December last year.

But when two members of staff went to see him alone he attacked both of them grabbing one by the waist and kicking the other.

When a commotion broke out in the corridor he punched another member of staff on his nose.

The 23-year-old was arrested after but it was clear he was suffering from mental distress.

He suffers from schizophrenia but had stopped taking his medication in the build up to being sectioned.

After being remanded in custody since the incident, he had been due to be sentenced earlier this month.

But complications arose as it emerged he wished to travel back to his country of birth, Romania, but could not be deported automatically unless he received the maximum sentence of a year.

A community order would have meant a probation team would have had to approve his leaving the country.

His defence team on that occasion requested a two week adjournment so fresh plans could be made for him to leave the country.

And yesterday at court defence counsel Leonard Bernstein confirmed a former employer was in court who would book him a flight, pick him up from prison and ensure he could get back to his family in Romania.

He asked for a conditional discharge to allow him to leave the country.

He also confirmed that he had recently tested negative for Covid which would satisfy the airline and allow him to travel.

Imposing a sentence, recorder Katie Cornell agreed to this.

She said: “These nurse were simply doing their job of helping people and should not have to face such assaults.

“It is clear you were suffering from schizophrenia and are also a polysubstance abuser.

“You were not taking your medication ad the time of these incidents.

“You were going through a period of acute mental unwellness.

“Thankfully you have resumed medication and are now on a more even keel and do not meet requirements for a hospital order.”

She said the maximum sentence was not warranted for this offence so would impose a conditional discharge to allow him to leave the country.

She said: “I make clear I do so only because of the particular circumstance of this case and because of the 179 days you have already served makes the severity of this case.”

She instructed Ungruenau, of no fixed abode, to keep taking his medication and urged prosecutor Verity Quaite to inform the staff members the conditional discharge was not a reflection of his actions.

The judge imposed a conditional discharge for six months.

Following Ungruenau’s previous appearance in court, 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.”