Paramedic: Why is thug who broke my wrist walking free? Anger over sentence after ambulance attack
APATIENT who seriously injured two paramedics in a vicious attack, leaving one with a broken wrist, has walked free from court.
Adam George James launched an attack on West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedic Amy Holtom and her colleague as they tried to treat him in the back of an ambulance.
The pair had responded to reports of an unconscious man in Birmingham city centre on July 12, 2016.
Amy said that as they began to carry out checks on their patient, he became verbally abusive.
Even though James bombarded them with foul language, they continued to treat him.
But when Amy attempted to cannulate – introduce an IV tube – he kicked out and broke her wrist with his steel-capped boots.
In an attempt to keep the pair safe and prevent further violence, her crew mate tried to restrain him, and was cut and bruised in doing so. Police arrived and James was later charged with causing actual bodily harm and common assault.
James, who lives in Wigan, Greater Manchester, appeared at Birmingham Crown Court for sentencing and was handed a 14-month suspended sentence.
Speaking after the sentencing, Amy said: “Initially I was very angry, angry and frustrated.
“Now, I’m probably more disappointed that again that we’ve been let down by a system that’s in place to protect us – and it just doesn’t seem to be working.
“Somebody who has actually broken someone’s wrist gets to just kind of get away with it. He gets to walk around and doesn’t have to really face any consequences for his actions.”
She added that since the attack she has been terrified of it happening again and always takes a ‘step back’ when doing her job.
Amy admitted: “I have thought about whether I want to move to somewhere that might be a little bit more protected, and where there are not so many risk factors.”
There are rising number of attacks on paramedics, mostly by people they are trying to help.
More than 50 addresses in the West Midlands are so dangerous that paramedics have to have a police escort to visit them at all.