AN AMBULANCE service boss has spoken out after a thug attacked a paramedic outside A&E.

Tim Fellows said violent behaviour against frontline emergency service workers will not go unpunished.

He spoke with The Argus after 40-year-old Spencer Wellington was handed a suspended prison sentence.

Wellington had attacked paramedic Andrew Randall at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

But he was spared prison because he served a prison sentence for a crime after the attack, and was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work instead.

Hove Crown Court was told the incident happened on February 28 at 6.30pm.

It had happened while Wellington’s child was also in the hospital.

He had branded doctors and nurses in the hospital as “f****** s***”.

Paramedic Mr Randall had arrived with a patient at A&E and saw raging Wellington walking out through a restricted area.

The ambulance crew member, who has 15 years of experience as a frontline NHS emergency worker, told Wellington if he was not happy he ought to leave.

The comment sparked a further explosion of rage from Wellington.

“I hope your wife dies a really horrible death,” he spouted, adding: “I hope you catch Aids. I will put you to sleep, how dare you talk to me that way.”

Wellington lunged towards Mr Randall, and threw punches towards him. The paramedic was struck in the head, but a security guard got between the pair. Wellington, of Amulet Close, Norfolk, said he was frustrated about his girlfriend having to wait and claimed he had worked a long day as a roofer, and has now lost his job.

Judge Christine Laing QC said: “This year made us realise what frontline workers have to deal with. They have put themselves in danger every day and from idiots like you.

“I don’t care if you were tired from a long day at work, don’t you think we all do that? Nothing justifies speaking to that man in the most disgraceful of terms. It was a sustained, deliberate assault, with security guards having to use all their strength to stop you getting at him.”

After the case the ambulance service’s operating unit manager for Brighton Tim Fellows said: “Put simply, acts of violence and abuse of our staff will never be tolerated and where there is clear intent, such as this, we will support criminal proceedings.

“I hope the sentence and the judge’s words serve as a strong reminder to the small minority who seem to think this kind of behaviour is acceptable.”