Ambulance chiefs seek jail terms for attacks on crew

Ambulance chiefs in Northern Ireland today demanded jail sentences for thugs who carry out vicious attacks on their crews.

With paramedics in Belfast and Derry City now targeted on a weekly basis, senior staff vowed to press for the toughest possible prison terms.

Mickey Hughes, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Project Officer, pledged: “We will demand jail every time.

“If you assault a member of the Ambulance service, we will do everything possible to ensure you receive the maximum penalty.”

The level of attacks and abuse directed at crews has surged by 128% in the last year. Ambulance staff have been subjected to 70 violent assaults since January.

The rise was confirmed as it emerged total attacks on doctors, nurses and other NHS workers in Northern Ireland have spiralled to more than 5,000 in just 12 months.

One paramedic suffered serious head injuries in north Belfast when a concrete block was hurled through an ambulance window.

In another incident, youths in Derry threw a scooter under a vehicle as it tried to get a patient with a suspected heart attack to hospital, causing the hydraulics to fail.

Amid heightening fears the assaults will cause a death, the Ambulance Service has launched a major poster campaign in a bid to stop the violence.

Two main messages will go up in shopping centres, GPs surgeries, pubs and clubs in the worst affected areas of north and west Belfast, Derry and Bangor - attacks will not be tolerated; and ambulances should not be called out for minor ailments.

Mr Hughes admitted there was no easy solution to a problem which he blamed on a fundamental break-down in social tolerance.

“Anyone in a uniform is now a target,” he said. "The consequences of this criminal behaviour could be someone dying. That’s how serious this is.”

Meanwhile, attacks on NHS staff rose by 3,000 on the total during 2001-2002.

According to government figures, there were 5,065 verbal and physical assaults recorded by health trusts across the North in the 12 months from April 2002.