Thugs pelt ambulance with stones

YOBS pelted an ambulance with stones as it arrived in Runcorn to take a casualty to hospital after was initially suspected to be a stabbing.

Police had initially been called to KFC on Hospital Way at 12.20pm on Sunday to reports a man had been found with injuries to his arm.

Enquiries established that he had been wounded at a residential property on The Knoll nearby in Palacefields.

A Cheshire police spokesman said two 19-year-old men were arrested in connection with the incident but after speaking to all parties involved, officers were ‘satisfied that the injuries are accidental’. Both men were released without charge.

Halton Lea Police said on social media that children had been throwing stones as the ambulance arrived, saying: “As if things aren’t bad enough when someone needed assistance today, kids around were throwing stones at the ambulance and making the situation worse!”

A North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) spokeswoman said paramedics were called to the area at 12.50pm and a man in his late teens was taken to hospital due to a ‘medical episode’.

In November the service launched a campaign highlighting the growing problem of violence and aggression towards ambulance staff, using the hashtag #GetBehind999 for the public to make an online pledge and for businesses to receive posters to display in their premises.

NWAS staff have reported more than 730 cases of physical or verbal assaults in the last 12 months across the region.