Staff at Burton’s Queen’s Hospital were left fearing for their lives after a 25-year-old alcoholic threatened to shoot and kill them with a BB gun.

Patrick Hodgkinson, of Gordon Street, Burton, managed to avoid an immediate jail sentence after appearing in court charged with threatening to kill staff and a police officer during the incident at the Belvedere Road hospital.

Hodgkinson had denied a charge of making threats towards the police officer and members of the public intending that they would fear the threat would be carried out.

However, he was found guilty at his trial at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court. The incident took place on July 19.

Hodgkinson was attending the A&E department for a medical issue. Staffordshire Police received a report of threats being made by Hodgkinson at around 4.50pm on July 19.

Queen's Hospital in Burton
Queen's Hospital in Burton

The initial report said he was specifically threatening to shoot any police officers that he saw. When officers attended, they then arrested him for making threats to kill.

Magistrates sentenced Hodgkinson to a 24-week jail term suspended for two years, telling him he caused 'substantial fear' to the police officer, the public and staff who were in hospital when he threatened them with the BB gun.

Hodgkinson was ordered to pay £100 compensation, £500 court costs and a £115 victim surcharge.

He has also been ordered to complete an alcohol treatment requirement for his alcohol dependency and must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement.

A spokesman for the trust which runs the hospital has said this week that such incidents when staff are threatened are taken very seriously.

Paula Gardner, chief nurse at the hospital, said: "The trust takes all allegations of assault, and threats of assault, on staff members incredibly seriously. No member of staff should have to work in fear of being assaulted, either physically or verbally.

"Staff are encouraged to report all incidents and are supported fully by the trust in doing so."

What is a BB gun?

BB guns look very realistic. Pellet and BB guns are often classed together. In fact, they are separate devices. Pellet and BB guns use compressed air to fire projectiles, and are also known as air guns for that reason, though the ammunition used for each is not always interchangeable. BB guns can fire at speeds of up to 550 feet per second.

BB does not in fact stand for 'ball-bearing'. ' BB began as the size of a shot (intended for use within a shotgun shell) which fell midway between 'b' and 'bbb' types. An inventor eventually began using 'bb' as a single projectile, hence the name.

A BB gun with a velocity of 45 metres per second (or 150 feet per second) so can easily pierce the skin, and a velocity reaching 60 metres per second (or 200 feet per second) so can easily fracture bone.

The potential exists for killing someone; this potential increases with velocity, but also rapidly decreases with distance, say experts.