Morecambe man who assaulted paramedics appears in court

A man assaulted two paramedics who responded to a call at a house in Morecambe, a court has heard.
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William Malcolm Ratcliffe, 60, of Chatsworth Road, Morecambe, appeared before Preston Magistrates' Court where he admitted two charges of assaulting an emergency worker.Paramedics Tony Kirkbride and Paul Robson, of the North West Ambulance Service, were called out on August 11 last year, the bench was told.

Prosecutors said the 60-year-old defendant was threatening and abusive as they performed their duties.

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He got alcohol treatment and a rehabilitation activity requirement for 20 days.

Preston Magistrates' CourtPreston Magistrates' Court
Preston Magistrates' Court

He must pay a £20 fine and £50 compensation to each victim.

A spokesman for North West Ambulance Service said: “We responded to a private address in Morecambe in which our ambulance crew members were verbally abused with threatening behaviour.

“Violence of any kind, verbal or physical is not acceptable, it is not part of the job, it is not to be expected and emergency service staff have every right to work safely.

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“Incidents like this can have a lasting effect both physically and mentally and we do a lot of work to support staff who have been subject to this type of abuse.

"We always encourage our staff to report incidents, no matter the situation, and where appropriate to work with police to push for prosecution.”

The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 came into force in November 2018, allowing the maximum jail sentence for assaulting an emergency worker to be doubled from six to 12 months.