A prisoner who'd been treated for a head injury escaped from hospital after a doctor left him alone in a room.
Spike Spence was in custody after being found with a knife in a Cumbernauld street.
He fled from Monklands Hospital in Airdrie via a fire exit door, but was recaptured in a nearby garden where he was hiding behind a shed.
Spence, 18, appeared from custody via videolink at Airdrie Sheriff Court this week.
He admitted illegal possession of a knife and attempting to pervert the course of justice by running out of the hospital.
Kevin Jarvis, prosecuting, said cops attended a disturbance in Morar Drive, Cumbernauld, in the early hours of New Year's Day.
The fiscal stated: "The accused was standing in the middle of the road with a cut to his head. He was under the influence and appeared agitated.
"He removed a combat knife with a six-inch blade from his jacket and brandished it briefly before putting it back in his pocket.
"Police officers thereafter restrained him.
"He was taken to Monklands Hospital where a nurse asked for his handcuffs to be removed.
"A doctor spoke to the accused then left him in a room alone.
"The accused left through a fire exit door and when police officers realised this they gave chase, requesting assistance as they did so.
"He was found in a garden in nearby Mavisbank Street."
Sheriff David Bicket heard that Spence was on several bail orders at the time.
Sentence was deferred for a criminal justice social work report and he was remanded in custody.
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