Ambulance officials are pleased with a two-year prison sentence for a man who broke the jaw of a paramedic who went to help him.
It was the first time that police in the West Midlands region received body-worn camera footage as part of an investigation into an assault on a member of the ambulance service.
On Friday, March 4, 2022, around 9.00 p.m., an incident occurred outside Shooters Bar in Leominster.
Henry Steven Allun Grain of Worcester Road, Leominster was sentenced to two years in a youth offenders institution yesterday (Tuesday 31st January) at Worcester Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent and two counts of criminal damage.
We had been tasked to a report of an unresponsive man in a public house,” said assaulted paramedic Steve Raven.
We took him out to the ambulance after initial treatment, and he became aggressive, so we activated the ambulance CCTV system and our body-worn cameras.
After that, Grain punched Steve in the face, breaking his jaw. He also broke one of the ambulance door hinges and damaged one of the windows, forcing the vehicle off the road for repairs.
I love my job, but this incident has had a profound impact on me,” Steve said. In addition to the time it took for my bone to heal, I was left with facial numbness and hearing loss. It has also had a psychological impact on me; I get very nervous in similar situations.
“Often we don’t feel that the law provides us with enough protection, but I was pleased that the judge in his summing up was quite strong in his disgust at what Grain did. He recognised that this was an assault on someone who went there to help a patient and ended up being out of work for weeks, depriving the public of a paramedic at a time when it is desperately needed.
“When I started this job in 2015, the thought that I would need to wear a body-worn camera for my protection would have seemed absurd, but I am so glad that both the vehicle and our staff have that option. I am confident that being able to capture what happened was critical in the prosecution, and I would encourage all of my colleagues to use the system every time they go out, because you never know when you might need it.”
I welcome this sentence because it shows how seriously the court took the violence against Steve,” WMAS Emergency Services Operations Delivery Director Nathan Hudson said.
“Ambulance personnel are there to assist people in their time of need. We know that the vast majority of the public despises violence against our employees.
The impact that violence against our staff has on their lives can be profound: we have seen cases where colleagues are left scared to be alone with a patient; some get flash backs and other mental health impacts.
“These often long-term effects are in addition to the recovery required for their physical injuries, which may prevent them from working for days, weeks, or months.
“Violence is not acceptable, and we must all work together to prevent it.”
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