Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne the former England football star was arrested and sectioned under the Mental Health Act at a hotel on Tyneside yesterday.

The police were called to the Hilton hotel in Gateshead yesterday evening after reports of concern for a 40 year old man staying there. A police spokesman said “The man was detained under the Mental Health Act and no-one was injured during the incident”.

Apparently, an incident had occurred earlier at the Malmaison Hotel, where he supposedly terrorised guests and staff at the hotel after a menacing rampage and grabbed a night porter by the throat whilst holding a steak knife.

A witness at the Malmaison Hotel said “He allegedly set off fire alarms at the hotel at 3am deliberately and when offered assistance with evacuation he became aggressive towards the night porter and grabbed him round the throat”. The witness went onto say “He became very agitated and had a steak knife in his pocket”. The hotel was forced to evacuate all of its guests until the fire service arrived.

The hotel manager was to have said that he was “potentially a menace to other guests. The guests in the room next to him were moved out as they felt intimidated”. Gascoigne was staying at the hotel to recuperate and is classed as a disabled guest at the hotel after hip surgery.

Gascoigne has been battling alcoholism and also has a troubled history of emotional instability and erratic behaviour.