Name: Police manhunt for Covid denier who shouted 'virus doesn't exist' on ICU ward
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Police manhunt for Covid denier who shouted 'virus doesn't exist' on ICU ward

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Shocking footage from East Surrey Hospital in Redhill shows medics being confronted, with police issuing an appeal to trace 45-year-old Tobe Hayden Leigh after video was shared on social mediaVideo UnavailablePolice have appealed for help tracing a Covid denier who confronted medics at a hospital - saying he wanted to take an elderly coronavirus patient home. Chilling footage shows medics at East Surrey Hospital being confronted, with a man accusing them of holding the elderly patient "hostage". Police say abusive comments were made toward hospital staff after a group - some not wearing masks - entered a critical care ward. Tobe Hayden Leigh, 45, from Maidstone in Kent, is wanted in connection with a public nuisance offence following the incident last Thursday, Surrey Police said. Footage was widely shared on social media, which showed a doctor warning the elderly patient could "drop dead any minute" because his oxygen levels were dangerously low. Refusing to accept that doctors are trying to help, a man is heard questioning whether "even exists". A doctor tells the group, who say they want to take the patient home: "My main concern is his safety and at the moment you are making him unsafe. "He's taken his oxygen off, he's going to die if we don't put it back on." A man tells doctors that the elderly man could be treated with vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc, only to be told none of these are proven to work. Despite being told that the patient will die if his oxygen is removed, the Covid denier responds: "Yeah, so you keep saying. Let's go." The man is heard insisting that the patient is "fine", and the elderly man says: "What about my wishes?" After claiming the patient is being "held hostage", the conspiracy theorist rants: "I'm an officer of the court. I'm putting you on notice, if you put one hand on me and touch me I'll be doing you for assault." He shouts "get off me, ya p****" as he is dragged away. In a statement, police said they were alerted to social media posts at the weekend. The force said: "On investigation, these posts related to an earlier incident at the hospital on Thursday 21 January when a number of people, some of whom were not wearing masks, gained access to the critical care ward to visit a family member and were abusive towards hospital staff when they were asked to do so. "They also refused to leave."East Surrey Detective Chief Inspector Kimball Edey said: “We would like to speak to Hayden Leigh in connection with this incident, and the escalating abusive and threatening comments being made towards hospital staff on social media. "These comments are extremely concerning, and are obviously causing considerable distress for those who are being targeted. “The staff at the hospital, as are all NHS workers, are trying to care for desperately ill people in extremely challenging circumstances, and to be targeted and abused on social media in this way is simply unacceptable.” Det Ch Insp Edey continued: “We also need to track Hayden Leigh down as a matter of urgency due to the public health risk he poses. He came into close proximity with a patient who remains seriously ill with covid and may well have contracted the virus himself. “We are appealing for any information and any help we can get from the public to find this man so that we can deal with him appropriately.”FollowMORE ON

Shocking footage from East Surrey Hospital in Redhill shows medics being confronted, with police issuing an appeal to trace 45-year-old Tobe Hayden Leigh after video was shared on social mediaVideo UnavailablePolice have appealed for help tracing a Covid denier who confronted medics at a hospital - saying he wanted to take an elderly coronavirus patient home. Chilling footage shows medics at East Surrey Hospital being confronted, with a man accusing them of holding the elderly patient "hostage". Police say abusive comments were made toward hospital staff after a group - some not wearing...

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Police manhunt for Covid denier who shouted 'virus doesn't exist' on ICU ward

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