SAMUT PRAKAN: The Samut Prakan Court handed down prison sentences to two men who attacked medical staff at the emergency ward at Vibharam Chaiprakarn Hospital in Phra Pradaeng district on the night of July 19.
The attack followed a fight between two rival groups at Moo 10 village in tambon Bang Ya Phraek early in the night.
A member of one group, Ratchapong Wassana, 22, was stabbed in the chest and seriously injured in the fight. He was rushed to Vibharam Chaiprakan Hospital. Two members of the other group were injured and admitted to Muangsamut Hospital, a few kilometres away from Vibharam Chaiprakarn Hospital.
At about 6pm, about 20 men arrived at Vibharam Chaiprakarn Hospital where Ratchapong was being treated in an emergency ward.
They were told by a doctor Ratchapol had died, despite efforts to save his life.
Enraged, Panuwat Yaemsuk charged at a female doctor who was performing CPR on another patient and hit her, believing that she was too slow to save Ratchapol's life. The doctor was hurt.
Another man in the group, Nipon Wanchom, hit a member of hospital staff on duty and hurt him.
The group then left on motorcycles for Muangsamut Hospital, where two members of the other gang were being treated. They forced their way into the emergency ward and attacked the men's friends and went on the rampage, destroying equipment and furniture.
A separate lawsuit was filed against Panuwat and Nipon for the attacks at Vibharam Chaiprakarn Hospital.
In this case, the Samut Prakan Court last week initially sentenced Panuwat to four years and six months and Nipon to four years imprisonment. Due to their confession, the jail sentence on Panuwat was commuted to two years and three months while the jail term on Nipon was halved to two years.
Verdicts are pending in other cases against members of the two rival gangs involved in the hospital brawls.