Clitheroe man urinated in ambulance and attacked crew (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Clitheroe man urinated in ambulance and attacked crew

9:04am Monday 28th January 2013 in News

A MAN who threatened and attacked ambulance staff, as well as urinating in an ambulance, after they were called to assist him has been given a community order.

Matthew Braithwaite, 32, from Clitheroe, appeared before Blackburn magistrates following the attack on December 22.

He pleaded guilty to assault, criminal damage and possession of cannabis.

The court heard the ambulance was called to the Dog Inn, Clitheroe, where they found Braithwaite with a head injury following an assault. He was put in the ambulance, but became abusive and threatening.

Paramedics were forced to stop the vehicle near the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, in Clayton-le-Moors, and call the police. The vehicle needed to be taken off the road to be deep cleaned before it was ready to treat other patients.

Braithwaite was made subject to a 12-month community order, a supervision order, fined £85 fine and must pay £150 compensation.

Ian Walmsley, Acting head of service for Cumbria and Lancashire, said: “The behaviour of this individual is totally unacceptable. When an incident like this occurs, it puts additional pressure on other crews in the area, as well as an unnecessary cost to the organisation.

“There is also the psychological effect on staff to consider, assaults can have a detrimental effect as they are here to care and treat the public, not be attacked by them.

“We fully welcome this sentence and hope it sends out a clear message to anyone who assaults our crews that they face the possibility of prosecution.

“The protection of our staff is a priority and we go to great lengths to ensure our staff can treat patients in an environment that is safe and secure.”