Drunk paramedic made hoax 999 call so he could dash home in ambulance
A PARAMEDIC made a hoax 999 call so he could steal an ambulance and drink-drive home from his work Christmas do.
Ian Bennett, 48, claimed someone was having a heart attack.
As his co-workers raced to the fake emergency, Bennett slipped into the ambulance station to commandeer a vehicle.
He drove 17 miles from Chester city centre to near his home in Runcorn, abandoning the ambulance by the side of a busy main road. Police found the vehicle, which had been stripped of its internal CCTV and satellite navigation system, a few hours later. They traced the hoax call to the phone box and seized CCTV, which showed Bennett was the culprit. Chester Crown Court heard the married father of four, who had been employed by the North West Ambulance Service for 18 years, was arrested later that day.
Although it was too late for any breath or alcohol tests he admitted he had been drunk, telling officers he couldn’t remember anything after vomiting and leaving his colleagues in a nightclub. Ambulance chiefs spent £3,000 repairing the stolen vehicle, which was off the road for two weeks, but judge Simon Berkson warned that the cost to the people of Cheshire could have been much higher.
Jailing Bennett for 18 months yesterday, he said: ‘Your actions in making the hoax call and removing the ambulance put lives at risk. Not only were your actions reckless in the extreme, but you took the ambulance out of action.’
The court heard Bennett, who was also banned from driving for 18 months, had been drinking with colleagues on December 5, 2018.
John Oates, prosecuting, said Bennett left Rosie’s nightclub, at around 12.30am. Reluctant to join a long taxi queue, he made the hoax call from a phone box close to the ambulance station.
Bennett, who admitted burglary, theft and taking the ambulance without consent, claimed not to remember what happened. However, the court heard his actions would have taken ‘planning and cunning.’
‘He had a mobile phone, but didn’t use it,’ Mr Oates said. ‘He used a false name and used his knowledge of his employer’s procedures to describe the type of emergency he knew an ambulance would respond to immediately.
‘He used his key code to enter the building, which is usually covered by CCTV, but this was out of order at the time. In interview he denied knowing this, but as somebody employed there he must have been aware of it.’
Adam Antoszkiw, defending, said Bennett, who was sacked by NWAS, had lost his career as a result of his actions, which had also placed ‘considerable strain’ on his marriage.