Ashfield woman jailed for sexually assaulting ambulance worker by groping his testicles

Julia Hinde, aged 58, stroked the man's inner thigh as she lay on her living room floor in the early hours of July 8, 2020 after calling 999 ‘for a present’.

During her trial last year, Nottingham Magistrates’ Court heard Hinde was laughing and partially clothed when two ambulance technicians arrived, but kept her eyes shut and wouldn't answer their questions.

She was warned her behaviour was inappropriate and went upstairs to get dressed.

As the first technician checked to see if there was evidence of an overdose in the kitchen, Hinde slapped his backside and cupped his testicles.

The court was played a 10-minute recording of the 999 call Hinde made earlier that night, in which she asked the call-handler to “bring her a present”, adding “just so you know, if I can't eat it, smoke it, drink it or f*** it”.

Hinde, who pleaded not guilty at her trial, told the court: “I would not have groped a man's genitals or anything else.”

However, Emma Cornell, prosecuting, said: “You misjudged the situation and were being cheeky, weren't you?”

Giving evidence, Hinde, admitted taking cannabis and drinking most of a bottle of Bacardi on the day of the offence.

She told the court she “didn't know whether it was a dream, or not”, and thought she might have patted someone's knee, but couldn’t remember anything else.

Appearing in court for sentencing, Hinde, of Levertons Place, Hucknall, was jailed for 16 weeks, handed a two-year restraining order, including to not contact the staff member directly or indirectly or via any social media and ordered to spend seven years on the Sex Offenders Register.

George Reid, East Midlands Ambulance Service lead security management specialist, said: “Our staff work hard every day to deliver the best possible care to the public we serve. Actions like this make their job even harder and we will always take action where we can.

“We have a zero tolerance approach to any level of abuse or assault against our staff.

“We worked with the staff to support them through the process of giving evidence with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure the defendant received the appropriate punishment.”