ONE of Cumbria’s most prolific criminals has been back before the court.

Craig Adams, of Low White Close in Barrow, was sentenced for racially aggravated harassment and assault of an emergency worker, and for racially abusing a doctor by using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour when he appeared at Preston Crown Court.

The 48-year-old has a record of 117 convictions for 417 offences.

Prosecuting the case, David Clarke said the defendant was taken to Furness General Hospital on March 26 2022 at 10.50pm due to a suspected overdose.

The court heard he swore towards hospital staff and threatened to knock out one of the security guards.

Mr Clarke said the defendant then made a derogatory reference to a doctor’s ‘German nationality’ and another offensive reference to a doctor’s skin colour.

A witness to the event said it was not the first time NHS staff have had to deal with the 'unpredictability and hostility' of the defendant.

Two days later, the same emergency worker and another colleague were called to attend the defendant’s home address at 12.30am following reports of him being unconscious.

When they arrived the defendant was drunk while laying in a foetal position in a communal area, the court heard.

Mr Clarke said the defendant was unpleasant and launched a ‘torrent of verbal abuse’ towards the two paramedics, threatening to knock one of them out while shaking and growling.

The court then heard how Adams then said: ‘I am going to kill you’ before grabbing one of the emergency workers by the neck and throwing an attempted drunken punch.

Claire Larton, representing the defendant, said: “I accept I have a difficult task considering the defendant’s extraordinary antecedent history.

“He expresses shame, remorse, regret and is deeply apologetic. When he is sober, he is a perfectly pleasant man who is appalled by his behaviour but he has found it almost impossible to maintain abstinence.

“Alcohol is the reason for his offending but it would seem there are green shoots. It may be that they die out very quickly but he is showing a strong desire to get sober.”

The court heard Adams was also in breach of a previous community order and suspended sentence at the time of this offending.

Sentencing the defendant to a 27-week suspended sentence and 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days, His Honour Judge Stephen Davies, said: “You have an appalling string of previous convictions.

“You have suffered from chronic alcoholism and it is reported that in the past you were drinking up to one and a half litres of gin. However you have stopped drinking alcohol and have been free for a number of months.

“This is the opportunity to see if you can keep that up. There is a glimmer of light. If you can keep free of alcohol for a sustained period, then there is a chance that health workers will never be plagued by you again.”

Adams was also ordered to wear an alcoholic tag for a period of 90 days under an Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement.