7:00am Thursday 11th June 2009
By Alison Cridland
A drunken teenage girl who broke a paramedic's finger has been ordered to pay him £1,200 in compensation.
Hayley Cooke, 18, tried to punch paramedic Jonathan Busst when he was trying to help her.
He blocked the blow, but she pulled back his finger.
At Brighton Magistrates Court Cooke, of Crest Way, Portslade, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm.
The court heard an ambulance was called to Portslade to attend an incident on the evening of January 17.
Sonia Flijani, prosecuting, said the vehicle was parked in Foredown Drive while the paramedics wrote up paperwork at about 11pm when they heard a woman screaming and shouting.
They saw Cooke staggering along the road alone and when she approached the ambulance she started to kick and thump the emergency vehicle.
Mr Busst got out of the ambulance and asked Cooke what she was doing.
Ms Flijani said: "She tried to punch him. When he blocked the blow she grabbed his finger and pulled it."
Cooke, who works for a pharmacy firm, staggered off in the heavy rain and fell over on the grass verge. She continued to shout abuse.
The ambulance crew alerted the police and when officers arrived they found the teenager rolling around on the ground in the mud.
Cooke was given a fixed penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly.
Later Mr Busst needed hospital treatment for his finger, which had become sore and swollen. An x-ray showed it was fractured. He needed time off work until the injury healed.
The court heard Cooke has received a further fixed penalty ticket for being drunk since the incident but has no previous convictions.
Andy Horsman, defending, said: "She is very sorry. She cannot remember what happened because she was drunk.
"She knows it is totally unacceptable to assault anyone, especially those serving the public. She is thoroughly ashamed of her behaviour."
Mr Horsman said at the time Cooke was under emotional pressure and suffering from depression.
He said: "It was a one-off and the risk of her re-offending is minimal."
Cooke was sentenced to a 12-month community order and must carry out 120 hours of unpaid work in the community. She was also ordered to pay £43 costs.
The Argus revealed last month that dozens of frontline ambulance crews are attacked or verbally abused in Sussex while trying to do their job.
Latest figures show 40 reported cases of physical assaults across the county between April 2008 and March this year.
A further 46 crews suffered verbal abuse, threats or aggressive behaviour.
The attacks caused a range of injuries, including broken bones, cuts and bruises.
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust has a zero tolerance policy regarding violence and abuse against its staff and seeks to prosecute the offender wherever possible.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.theargus.co.uk