Drunk paramedic made hoax 999 call
A DRUNK paramedic from Runcorn made a hoax 999 call before stealing an ambulance so he could get home quicker from a Christmas night out.
Ian Bennett had been to Rosie’s nightclub but, not wanting to join the taxi queue, he dialled 999 and described to the operator a fake emergency.
He pretended a passerby was having a heart attack, and spun a convincing lie of the circumstances.
Two crews were dispatched to the scene, but the 48-yearold then used his key card to slip into the ambulance station, in Chester city centre.
Bennett swiped the keys and pinched one of the empty ambulances, driving it 17 miles to his home in Runcorn.
He then abandoned the vehicle by the side of a busy main road on December 6, 2018.
When it was found by police, its internal
CCTV and satellite navigation system had been ripped out,
Chester Crown Court heard.
Detectives traced the 999 call to the phone box, scoured cameras which had captured the crime, and then located Bennett who was arrested.
It was too late to breathalyse him, but the Runcorn man, of
The Glen, admitted he’d been drunk, telling officers he couldn’t remember anything after vomiting and leaving his colleagues in a nightclub.
On Monday, January 13, the former North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) employee was jailed for 18 months.
The married fatherof-four, who had been with NWAS for 18 years and was ‘good at his job’, has since been sacked.
It cost £3,000 to repair the damaged ambulance, which was off the road for two weeks.
Judge Simon Berkson 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.”
Bennett, who admitted burglary, theft and taking the ambulance without consent, was also banned from driving for 18 months.
John Oates, prosecuting, said his actions had required ‘planning and cunning’.
The barrister added: “He had a mobile phone, but didn’t use it.
“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, had lost his career as a result of his actions, which had also placed ‘considerable strain’ on his marriage.