A man has been arrested accused of going on a rampage at an A&E waiting room where a patient allegedly had part of his ear bitten off.
Police were called to Bolton Hospital shortly after 4pm on Friday to reports of a man attacking other patients inside.
A man in his 20s has since been arrested on suspicion of a number of offences.
One witness, Michael Anderson, who was waiting with his pregnant partner, said he and a nurse were forced to pin the suspect down to the ground to prevent further attacks before security later arrived.
He said the suspect had ‘punched a frail man in the face’, causing him to fall to the ground, before then ‘biting off part of somebody’s ear’ when they tried to intervene.
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The 34-year-old recalled: ‘I had gone to A&E with my partner, who is pregnant, and we were waiting at the desk to be checked in. Two police officers had come in, escorting this other lad who was behind us.
‘We were seen to and sat down, and he was getting irate in his chair. After about ten minutes, he stood up, went near the entrance and began to count out every person in the waiting room. He then went into the corridor, and it was quiet for a minute or so before he started screaming.
‘There was this man, who was quite frail, walking out, and this guy swung for him. Another person then saw this and tried to grab him and stop him, when he latched onto his ear and bit part of it off.’
Michael said he managed to grab the man and throw him to the ground before getting on top of him and restraining him until help came.
‘There were people around on the floor, us restraining him and pinning him down, and I had kept asking for security,’ he added.
‘There was a girl sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest, having a panic attack. It was honestly like a bomb had gone off afterwards.
‘There were just people in disbelief. Some had backed into one side of the room. It was hard to grasp what had just happened.’
Pictures showed a number of police vehicles outside the A&E entrance.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: ‘Officers called to the incident at around 4:15pm today, one man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of s18 and s47 assault, police assault and racially aggravated public order.’
The force did not provide any details on the nature of injuries sustained by the victims.
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