A TEENAGER punched, head-butted and bit a member of staff while being held at Greenfields secure residential unit, a Royal Court trial has heard.
The employee, who was giving evidence yesterday on the first day of a three-day trial, said that he was signed off work for ten days following the blows to his head during the first attack.
The teenager, whose age prevents them from being identified, denies three charges of grave and criminal assault and one of common assault.
Answering questions from Advocate Rebecca Morley-Kirk, prosecuting, the staff member said he had been called to the centre after reports that the defendant and another resident at the unit were shouting at and threatening members of staff and kicking windows and doors.
The man said he tried to calm the situation but added: ‘I was punched and head-butted in the head and the face several times.
‘I went to work the next day but I felt disorientated all morning. I went to my doctor and he signed me off work for the next ten days.
‘For the first four days I slept 24 hours a day.’
The court also heard that the defendant had allegedly kicked another staff member in the legs, leaving her with injuries to her knees.
The first staff member also told the court that seven weeks later the same detainee became aggressive and threatening again.
Staff tried to return the defendant to a bedroom but the Greenfields employee said: ‘I was punched in the head; I was kicked. I don’t remember how many times.
‘I was head-butted and I was bitten in the upper arm.’
Advocate Julia-Anne Dix, defending, asked the staff member whether the blows to his head might have affected his memory of the incident.
He replied: ‘They may have. I don’t remember everything but I remember some things.’
She also asked whether he had used excessive force to restrain the individual, but he said: ‘I only used the force I needed to keep everyone safe – the defendant, the staff and myself.’
The staff member had been the most experienced member of the team on duty on the night in question, the court was told, and Advocate Dix asked: ‘Did you feel let down by your employers in that regard?’
He replied: ‘I wouldn’t agree that I felt let down by my employers.’
The trial continues.
