Man jailed for knife attack on paramedic

Ambulance crew had been called to help him

A Peterborough man who attacked a paramedic with a knife has been jailed for six months

Dariusz Kiszycki, 50, was visited by an ambulance crew at his home in Bishops Road, Peterborough, on January 31 this year.

They had been called following reports he was in a mental health crisis.

He let the crew in to talk, but quickly became agitated and lunged at the closest paramedic with a knife, shouting at them to get out of his house.

Police were called but he had calmed down by the time they arrived and was receiving treatment for injuries.

In interview, Kiszycki claimed he couldn’t remember the incident, that he had been anxious and taken cocaine as a remedy.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on August 13 and was sentenced to six months in prison.

PC James Rice said: “The public call upon paramedics to help them when they are most in need. But we are all too often called to assist when they are prevented from doing so by violent people.

“It should be remembered that emergency workers are people, they are fathers, mothers,sonsanddaughters.When they are attacked they become victims just like anyone else, but victims who have been attacked while trying to help.”

Marcus Bailey, chief operating officer at the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST), said: “At EEAST, we have a zero-tolerance approach to assaults on our staff and provide support in reporting any incidents and pushing for the culprits to be brought to justice.

“It is completely unacceptable that our staff should feel threatened or unsafe as they go about their jobs helping their communities and we hope this sentencing will serve as a deterrent.”