A 31-year-old man has been sent to prison for twenty weeks after spitting at an emergency ambulance technician.
Dale Pickering, of Bishops Walk, Church Warsop, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting an emergency worker at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 26th May.
On the 16th May, an emergency ambulance was called to Wood Lane in Warsop after a concerned member of the public spotted Pickering lying motionless in the street.
An emergency ambulance was sent to the location to make sure that Pickering was ok.
However, Pickering became aggressive towards the crew and spat at one of the ambulance technicians.
The ambulance crew decided to take Pickering back to his home address. But when he got there, he spat at a male occupant of the address and once again spat at the ambulance technician while at the same time pushing the paramedic.
As well as pleading guilty to the three assaults, Pickering also pleaded guilty to two drink-driving offences and a further assault.
He was handed a 20-week sentence which was suspended for 18 months.
The first drink driving offence and the further assault happened in Bishops Walk, Church Warsop on 27th January, when Pickering was involved in a collision and got out and kicked the driver of the other car.
Pickering was also caught drink-driving in Bishops Walk on 17th February.
This conviction follows figures released on 20th May, which revealed that Nottinghamshire Police had investigated 89 incidents of key workers being spat or coughed at since Friday 20th March.
EMAS Ambulance Technician, Paula Page, who was responding with her paramedic husband Matthew from Kingsmill Ambulance Station, said:
“We asked the patient if he could stop spitting by explaining the seriousness of passing on COVID-19, but he wouldn’t stop.
“I felt angry and upset that someone could treat myself and my husband in such a vile manner when all we were trying to do was help someone who needed our assistance.
“We could not continue to respond to other patients who may have needed us while we were dealing with this patient’s violent behaviour, and then because we needed to help the police with their enquiries.
“Part of our role involves seeing people who’ve consumed a lot of alcohol or taken illegal drugs, and they don’t always behave as themselves.”
Kelvin Langford, Local Security Management Specialist at EMAS, said:
“Assaults on our staff are absolutely unacceptable, and we take a zero-tolerance approach towards anyone who verbally or physically assaults them.
“Our frontline colleagues, as well as our team in our 999-control room, are here to help people, not to be assaulted, and they deserve to be treated with respect.
“We will continue to support any of our colleagues who are assaulted on the frontline while trying to help others and to work with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute those who abuse our colleagues.”
Assistant Chief Constable Kate Meynell of Nottinghamshire Police said:
“As police officers, we know what it’s like to respond to a report of an emergency only to be treated in this way.
“This was disgusting behaviour, and I have every sympathy for my fellow emergency workers who had to go through this ordeal. I know the anxiety this must have caused them and the other man involved.
“That’s why we take these incidents so seriously, and I’m pleased this outcome shows that assaulting emergency workers will not be tolerated.”
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