Paramedic used pizza box to help colleague in incident where man assaulted ambulance crew sent to help him

Darren Mouat, 49, tried to force Marie Jobe out of his flat in Elginton Tower, after she and work partner Ryan Robson responded to emergency concerns he was suicidal.

In fear of leaving Mr Robson alone, she managed to lodge a pizza box in the door so it could not be closed, a court heard.

Seconds later, Mouat pushed Mr Robson against a wall and tried to punch him, magistrates in South Tyneside were told.

Although no injuries occurred, the court heard the incident had left both paramedics more fearful of carrying out their work with people with mental health problems.

Prosecutor Jeff Taylor said Mouat was upset that they were a different emergency team than had been out to see him earlier on Wednesday, September 11.

He added: “Whilst there, the two paramedics are trying to deal with the defendant. Ms Jobe took the precaution of wedging open the door with a pizza box.

“The defendant tried to separate the two ambulance crew to get Ms Jobe to leave. She didn’t want to close the door and leave her colleague inside.

“He then turned his attention to Mr Robson. He pushed him against a wall and tried to punch him.”

Mr Taylor added that in a statement Mr Robson said it was the first time in his six years as a paramedic a patient had laid hands on him.

And Ms Jobe said the incident, which has lasted up to seven minutes, had impacted on how she felt about entering properties to treat people.

Angus Westgarth, defending, said his client suffered from schizophrenia and psychosis which had at times not been treated well by the NHS since he moved to Sunderland from Scotland in 2017.

He said an earlier ambulance crew had been out to treat Mouat and that medication may have been removed by them, possibly due to concerns over his safety.

Mr Westgarth added: “He wanted the original crew back because he wanted his medication back.

“If the incident lasted seven minutes, then it wasn’t an assault for that long.

“He can’t remember very much about it. He’s horrified at what he’s read. He says, ‘that’s not me, they’ve saved my life before’.

“It was an unpleasant incident as far as the ambulance crew was concerned, but no serious injury.

“As far as he is concerned, there was no devious intention, no intention to harm. He apologies to the paramedics through the court today.”

John Lee, chairman of the bench, told Mouat: “It seems you suffer from quite serious mental health, but that is no excuse.”

Mouat pleaded guilty to two charges of assault and he was fined £80 for each.

He was ordered to pay £50 compensation to each paramedic and ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge. There were no court costs.