An 'arrogant' doctor who punched a vulnerable patient for making a racist comment and spitting at him has become the fifth health professional from a single hospital to be jailed in the past year.

Devout Christian Dr Xowi Mwimbi, 68, was last week given a 12-month sentence after ignoring warnings that the man – who had a degenerative brain condition - might lash out and losing his temper.

Staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital had urged the locum consultant physician to keep his distance as the patient could get severely distressed if anyone got to close to him.

But Mwimbi - a church elder and trustee of a charity which tackles poverty in Africa – 'shamefully' ignored their pleas and attacked the unnamed man after being insulted.

A trial heard the patient instinctively swung his arm towards Mwimbi but barely made any contact.

The doctor then reacted by punching the patient to the left temple and pressing his head into the pillow.

Devout Christian Dr Xowi Mwimbi, 68, (pictured) punched a vulnerable patient for making a racist comment

Dr Mwimbi is a church elder at the Altrincham Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Greater Manchester and trustee of a charity which tackles poverty in Africa

Staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital (pictured) had urged the locum consultant physician to keep his distance as the patient could get severely distressed if anyone got to close to him

Staggeringly, Mwimbi is the third health professional to be jailed for mistreating patients at the Lancashire hospital in the past 12 months.

Last December a nurse and a healthcare worker at Blackpool Victoria Hospital's stroke unit were jailed for ill-treatment after a court heard patients were sedated for an 'easy shift' and their own 'amusement'.

A fourth member of staff, 'predatory' healthcare assistant Hernando Puno, 52, was jailed for nine months last May for sexually assaulting female colleagues.

A fifth was locked up for stealing medication.

In a statement read to his sentencing hearing last week, the patient's mother, a nurse herself, added: 'I have never seen anyone strike a patient before.

'What Dr Mwimbi did was both unjustified and shameful.'

Mwimbi also faces an investigation by the General Medical Council which could lead to him being struck off.

'It is clear you failed in your first duty of car to a patient which is to do no harm,' Judge Heather Lloyd told him at Preston Crown Court.

'This patient had very complex needs and you ignored warnings over how he should be approached when dealing with him.

'Even a student nurse was aware of the warnings and this would not have happened if this patient had been approached with care.

Hernando Puno, 52, (pictured) was jailed for nine months last May for sexually assaulting female colleagues

Dr Mwimbi was convicted of ill treatment by a care worker following a trial after jurors rejected his self defence plea

In a police interview Dr Mwimbi from Wythenshawe, Manchester said the patient had hit him and racially abused him so he had acted in 'self-defence'

Pictured: The outside of Blackpool Victoria Hospital where Dr Mwimbi worked 

'After all your years of practice, you thought you knew better.'

Judge Lloyd said the patient had 'lashed out and spat at you in a terrible way'.

'No doubt you were surprised and appalled, but the fact is that as he was being restrained by carers you lost your temper and punched him in the temple and held him is a tight grip,' she added.

Judge Lloyd said Mwimbi had falsely accused the man's carers of 'putting their heads together and lying about what happened'.

'You have demonstrated a degree of arrogance and shown no remorse by continuing to deny any wrongdoing.'

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The victim has 'regressed' since the incident making it harder for helpers to care for him, the court heard.

In her statement, the unnamed patient's mother said he 'becomes extremely agitated if he fear someone is going to hurt him again'.

Mwimbi, of Wythenshawe, Manchester, qualified as a doctor in Zambia in 1986.

He was convicted of ill-treatment by a care worker earlier this year after a jury rejected his claim to have been acting in self-defence.

Paul Humphries, defending, asked the judge to take into account that there had been a level of provocation by the patient.

'It would be upsetting for anyone who is racially abused and spat at - he was left covered in spittle,' he said.

'I do not think any good would be served by him going to jail.'

Blackpool Victoria Hospital has already been at the centre of a four-year police investigation into allegations of a 'culture of abuse' by staff towards patients on the stroke unit.

Last December senior nurse Catherine Hudson, 54, and junior colleague, Charlotte Wilmot, 48, were jailed for seven years and two months and three years respectively for conspiring to drug and ill-treat defenceless patients.

Marek Grabianowski, himself a senior nurse who at one stage ran the hospital's A&E department, was jailed for 14 months after he admitted conspiracy to steal drugs and perverting the course of justice.

Detectives are still investigating the suspicious death of Valerie Kneale, 75, who bled to death on the ward in November 2018 after suffering what officers believe was a sex attack.

A £20,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the conviction of the killer, but no-one has been brought to justice.

Detectives are still investigating the suspicious death of Valerie Kneale (pictured), 75, who bled to death on the ward in November 2018

Mwimbi, of Wythenshawe, Manchester, qualified as a doctor in Zambia in 1986

Pictured: Catherine Hudson, 54, was jailed for seven years and two months at Preston Crown Court for ill-treating patients

Pictured: Charlotte Wilmot, 48, was also jailed for conspiring to drug and ill-treat defenceless patients

Catherine Hudson (left), 54, and Charlotte Wilmot (right), 48, pictured leaving Preston Crown Court, where they were convicted 

Pictured are Hudson (right) and Wilmot (left) exchanged messages joking about sedating their patients

Following the trial, Sazeeda Ismail, Senior Crown Prosecutor for North West England, said: 'Dr Xowi Mwimbi demonstrated a gross breach of his duty of care, when in anger he used excessive force against an extremely vulnerable man.

'His actions traumatised those who witnessed the incident. I would like to thank those witnesses for their quick action in intervening and reporting what they had seen.

'It is thanks to them that we have been able to bring Dr Mwimbi to justice for his despicable actions.'

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: 'This was clearly an upsetting incident and we would like to apologise for the distress caused to the patient and their family, as well as colleagues who witnessed it, intervened and immediately reported it to the police.

'This doctor was covering a shift as a locum and not a permanent member of the team who place paramount importance on providing a caring, safe and respectful environment.

'We are very grateful the matter has been dealt with so quickly by all involved and reassure local people this is not the high standard of treatment they can expect from the Trust.'