A man who turned up at Whitehorse General Hospital drunk, with a gash on his head, and punched a nurse in the face said at his sentencing hearing Tuesday he is ashamed of his actions.

“I’ve always had the utmost respect for the nursing profession,” Todd Brownrigg, 47, told territorial court judge Michael Cozens.

Brownrigg’s lawyer, Gordon Coffin, said his client is “aghast” about the assault. He has no recollection of even being at the hospital that night, last July 26.

He is “personally offended” by what he did, Coffin said.

Cozens imposed the sentence suggested by Coffin – 90 days, the amount of time Brownrigg has already spent in custody at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre since his arrest last summer.

Court heard that Brownrigg fell down the stairs outside the Chilkoot Trail Inn on Fourth Avenue and struck his head on the concrete.

Witnesses said it looked like he might have been having a seizure – he was speaking in “an unusual fashion,” Coffin said, and was having spasms.

He went to the hospital, where he was belligerent with staff, so much so that he was put in full-body restraints.

A nurse removed the restraints when Brownrigg had to use the bathroom, and that’s when he became violent.

“You better watch out because I’m going to kill you when this is all over,” he told the nurse, and shouted a racial slur at a nearby doctor.

Then he punched the nurse in the face.

He recalls none of this. His last memory before waking up in cells was standing outside at the Chilkoot with his neighbour.

Two days later, Brownrigg was released on eight conditions, including that he not drink alcohol.

On Aug. 12, police received a report of a drunk man at the Chilkoot. It was Brownrigg.

He’s been in custody since.

Crown prosecutor Joanna Phillips sought a 5 1/2-month global sentence for the assault and the breach. The fact that he hit a nurse, someone who helps others, was an aggravating factor, she said.

Coffin said his client was born in Ottawa, and has worked as a driller and steelworker.

Before coming to Whitehorse last year, he worked in Yellowknife as a case worker at the Salvation Army.

Brownrigg has struggled with alcohol addiction for years, Coffin said.

Brownrigg’s father recently died, so he will be travelling to Ottawa to settle his estate. He intends to return to Whitehorse, Coffin said.

Brownrigg will spend a year on probation. He is to have no contact with the nurse except to apologize for what he did.

Brownrigg is also ordered to stay away from the hospital, save for medical treatment or a doctor’s appointment.

Cozens also sentenced him to 30 days, concurrent, for the alcohol breach.