Man who assaulted paramedic responding to stabbing call narrowly avoids jail
A man who assaulted a student paramedic as he responded to a call about a stabbing has narrowly avoided jail.
Ambulance crews were called to Fatherless Barn Crescent in Cradley at 7.15pm on December 30 last year after receiving reports that a man had been seriously injured in a stabbing.
Crews arrived to find a man who was initially unresponsive, but as they tried to treat him, he became combative and was arrested.
However, whilst there, a second man - 34-year-old Lance Dunn - assaulted the student paramedic.
Police saw Dunn grab the ambulance worker, who escaped without injury and completed his shift.
On Tuesday, Dunn, of Blackacre Road, Dudley, admitted assault by beating of an emergency worker.
Dudley Magistrates' Court ordered him to pay £200 compensation to the paramedic.
He was also given an eight-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months, the court noting that the sentence was "increased from community order to a suspended sentence order due to an unprovoked assault on a paramedic".
Dunn must also participate in 18 rehabilitation activity days.
Commenting on the incident, Nathan Hudson, Emergency Services Operations Delivery Director at West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS), said: “Ambulance staff are there to help people in their hour of need. We know that the vast majority of the public find violence against our staff to be abhorrent.
"The impact that violence against our staff has on their lives can be profound: we have seen cases where colleagues are left scared to be alone with a patient; some get flashbacks and other mental health impacts.
"These often long term effects are on top of the recovery that is needed for their physical injuries that may stop them being able to work for days, weeks or months.
"Violence is not acceptable and we all need to work together to stop it happening.”
After the incident, the original patient was found to have suffered a minor injury and taken to Russells Hall Hospital as a precaution with police officers travelling with the ambulance crew.
WMAS said the student paramedic no longer works for them, but not because of this incident.
