Abusive patient who spat at paramedic jailed

An abusive patient who spat in the face of a Welsh paramedic has been jailed.

Jonathan Roberts – Welsh Ambulance Service paramedic of 24 years – was attempting to treat Nigel Francis in the Ravenhill area of Swansea last May when he became aggressive.

As Francis was being led to a police van in handcuffs, he spat in Jonathan’s face.

At Swansea Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Francis, 58, of Blaenymaes, Swansea, was sentenced to eight months in prison and ordered to pay £50 compensation to Jonathan.

He had previously been found guilty of assaulting an emergency worker and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Intoxicated

Jonathan, 50, said: “I second guess every situation now. I do understand that when people are intoxicated, it clouds their judgement, but nobody deserves to be spoken to like that, threatened and then spat on, when all you’re trying to do is carry out your role as a paramedic to help patients in the community.

“When he spat at me, I just felt disgusted that a patient could treat anyone like that. I was there to help him.”

Jonathan, who is based in Ystradgynlais, Powys, had been dispatched to an immediately life-threatening ‘Red’ call with this crewmate.

Threatening

The father-of-one said: “We’d been sent to a chap reported to have been unconscious, but when we arrived, he was clearly conscious and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.

“He was verbally abusive and physically threatening from the outset, so we called for police back-up.

“With the police now in attendance, he continued his barrage of abuse, so he was arrested and placed in handcuffs.

“As a police van arrived to escort him to hospital, he leaned forward and spat directly at me, the sputum landing on my face, neck and clothing.”

‘Disgusting’

Francis was further arrested for assaulting an emergency worker and placed in the police van, where Jonathan joined him to continue to deliver his care.

Jonathan said: “What he did was disgusting, but I still had a duty of care for this man.

“Continuity of care is everything, had I passed his care on to someone else, something might have been missed in the handover to hospital staff.”

At Swansea’s Morriston Hospital, after Francis had been handed over, Jonathan promptly self-presented at the emergency department, where he was triaged by a nurse practitioner and assessed by a doctor.

Challenging

“Thankfully, because none of his spit had entered my eyes, nose or mouth, I didn’t require any treatment,” he said.

Lee Brooks, Executive Director of Operations at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “Any form of assault is unacceptable, but spitting in particular is downright depraved.

“Jonathan was there to help this man, and this was the ultimate disrespect.

“The fact that Jonathan continued to deliver care for him is frankly remarkable.

“We will always seek prosecution for those who harm our people, and sentences should reflect the devastating and long-term impact that assault has on our staff and volunteers.

“Our plea to the judiciary is to use the full extent of their sentencing powers to ensure proportionate sentences are handed out consistently to those found guilty of committing these crimes against our people.”

South Wales Police Sergeant John Hughes added: “Nobody should expect to be assaulted – either physically or verbally – when they go to work, whether you work for the emergency services or otherwise.

“This behaviour makes our roles more challenging, and we will take firm actions against those responsible.”