A mindless thug has been jailed after a brutal attack that left a life-saving paramedic with a broken jaw.
As a result of the sickening attack, the West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic needed several metal plates in his face.
Thanks to the swift response to the call for urgent assistance that was made by the paramedic, West Midlands Police officers caught the thug shortly after the attack.
On 5th April, Jamie Davies, a 22-year-old from Coventry, had called for an ambulance in April, during the height of the COVID pandemic.
He told emergency call handlers that he was suffering from breathing difficulties.
Paramedics rushed to the scene on blue light, but when they arrived at the address where the call had been made from in Winifred Avenue, they could find nothing wrong with Davies.
Davies had already made six 999 calls that evening and had already been seen by paramedics.
When student paramedic Chris Cooling and his colleague responded to the most recent 999 call that had been made by Davies, he demanded an inhaler from the crew.
As Chris Cooling walked away from Davies, the coward punched him in the face from behind.
Cowardly Davies then sped away from the scene and crashed into an emergency ambulance in his bid to escape the consequences of his outrageous actions.
But ambulance crews spotted Davies the next day behind the wheel of his damaged Vauxhall Meriva as it drove along Holyhead Road.
West Midlands Ambulance control room staff alerted their West Midlands Police colleagues who raced to the scene and swiftly took Davies into custody.
Investigators found that just days earlier on 31 March, Davies was abusive to staff at Balliol Road doctor’s surgery where he smashed a glass door pane.
Davies was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
At Coventry Crown Court yesterday (24 Nov) Davies was jailed for seven years and two months having admitted the offence.
He was also banned from driving for three years.
Mr Cooling, aged 40, was on a liquid-only diet for four weeks following surgery and has only recently returned to work on light duties.
He welcomed the sentence and said he hoped it served as a deterrent that assaults on emergency services staff will be dealt with firmly.
“This incident has had a massive impact on me,” he added.
“I have so far lost seven months of my life to this attack, and I am not yet able to resume my career, a career that I love.
“Like my colleagues, I come to work to help people. I suffered particularly severe injuries, but many others have also been attacked.
“It is sentences like this that will make people stop and think before they do something similar, yet too often, the sentences do not reflect the effect such incidents have on us.
“I would like to thank West Midlands Ambulance Service for their support throughout and also to West Midlands Police for their quick response and the Crown Prosecution Service for putting such a strong case together.”
Coventry Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Mike O’Hara, at the time, said he was “sickened” by the incident.
He said: “Attacks on any emergency services staff will never be tolerated, but this was a particularly sickening incident on an NHS worker who was on the frontline of our national efforts to tackle coronavirus.
“I think I speak for the whole of Coventry in wishing the paramedic well in his continued recovery.”
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The problem is that he will be out in 43 months. If he actually served the full sentence, there would be reason for celebration but alas, this is not the case. As for the driving ban, unless this is served post release, it is an utterly pointless, futile punishment.
what he needs is a good kicking, everyday for the rest of his useless life