'Drastic security changes' after ambulance theft
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Richard Price
,
West Midlands
and
Jack Dowling
,
BBC Radio Stoke
Violence and aggression against paramedics continues to cause low morale, according to the head of security at West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Dan Knight was speaking following the sentencing of a man who stole an ambulance with an elderly patient and paramedic still inside.
Marshall Leese, of Denbigh Street in Hanley, a prolific user of a drug called monkey dust, was sentenced earlier this week to 21 months in prison. He had previously admitted false imprisonment and aggravated vehicle taking in March.
Knight said that violence and aggression has become a "real issue" across the NHS and the service had made drastic security changes to prevent such an incident happening again.
He said: "It's quite unconscionable really, when you sit back and you look at what's actually happened.
"An individual has not only had the audacity to steal an ambulance, but they stole an ambulance with a paramedic, a patient and their carer on the back of the vehicle which increases the severity tenfold in my opinion."
"These vehicles are at hospital for a reason, they're there with patients on board," he added.
He said they were "lucky" that nobody was seriously injured or killed as a result of the incident.
Knight told the BBC that the paramedic involved in the incident in Stoke-on-Trent has worked for the service for more than 20 years. He said he not only carried on the rest of his shift after the incident but also turned up to work the following day.
"It's a true testament to their character as an individual," he added.
Knight said a review of vehicle security has been carried out since the incident and "considerable change" made, which has "come at a cost for an already pressured organisation".
"We have taken the necessary steps to prevent this happening again and hopefully this will never happen again, " he added.
He said that despite the sentence issued in this case, there was a feeling more broadly that attacks on ambulance workers often went unpunished and contributed to a feeling that it was not being taken seriously enough.
"It's almost as if the justice element of this [kind of thing] is kind of never there, with individuals either not making it to court or getting very lenient punishments, " he added.
It was something that he said was part of his role to try to combat.
"Assaulting anybody is not ok, but assaulting an emergency worker when they're there to assist you is equally not ok."
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