Man jailed for attack on medic

Ambulance called to help ‘intoxicated’ man in city centre

A Peterborough man has been jailed after assaulting ambulance staff in Cathedral Square who were trying to help him.

Louis Vickers, (24), of Tilton Court, Peterborough, was sentenced to 10 weeks in custody and was ordered to pay compensation to two ambulance staff at a hearing at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court.

Now ambulance staff have said they hope the jail term serves as a warning to others to prevent more assaults on crews.

The sentence follows an incident on December 8, 2017, when the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) was called to an unconscious man in Cathedral Square, Peterborough.

The patient was intoxicated and was assisted into the back of an ambulance by two members of staff.

However, the court heard Vickers became aggressive and started swearing and was asked to calm down on a number of occasions.

He then started touching a female crew member ’s leg and trying to hold her.

Vickers then took off his seat belt and walked towards her in the ambulance and grabbed her arms and forced himself onto her and tried to pin her down.

Luke Squibb, EEAST Senior Locality Manager for North Cambridgeshire, said he was pleased with the sentence.

He said: “This was a very distressing incident for our staff and we are grateful for the police and the courts for taking this seriously.

“It is unacceptable that ambulance staff are subjected to violence when they are trying to do their best for patients.

“We hope this custodial sentence will stop this man and others from being aggressive towards our staff in the future.

“EEAST will always support staff in pursuing any acts of violence or aggression towards them and will push for the highest possible action to be taken.”

Vickers pleaded guilty to assault by beating and two counts of using threatening/ abusive/insulting words/behaviour to cause harassment/ alarm/distress.