Derbyshire woman sentenced after kicking paramedic in ribs in Notts

Debbie Bakane (now Jones), 27, from Derby, assaulted paramedic Linda Ward when an ambulance attended outside a pub in Carlton Street at 7.30pm on December 14, 2018.

Bakane was intoxicated, and once she was on the ambulance and being assessed, she began repeatedly kicking Linda in the ribs.

Linda needed to be taken to Queen’s Medical Centre for treatment and had to take time off work following the attack.

Bakane appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court on November 27 where she was found guilty and sentenced to a one-year community order, 50 hours unpaid work, a £680 fine, and £85 in court costs. She was also ordered to pay Linda £100 in compensation.

Linda Ward, who has worked for East Midlands Ambulance Service for 13 years and is based at Beechdale Ambulance Station, said this is the second time in her career that she has had a successful prosecution for an assault and she would encourage colleagues to do the same should it happen to them.

Linda said: “I am happy with the outcome from the court case, and I would like to thank everyone for their support, especially our EMAS security management team who have helped me every step of the way.

“Both Kelvin and Mark have been brilliant, and they even came to court with me on the day.”

Kelvin Langford, local security management specialist, said: “Our frontline colleagues, as well as our team in our 999 control room, signed up to do this job so that they can help people, not to be assaulted.

“We have worked closely with our colleagues in Nottinghamshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to pursue a conviction, and we will continue to do so whenever anyone thinks it is acceptable to assault our dedicated staff.

“We will not tolerate assaults of any nature against our staff.

“Thankfully, on this occasion, Linda was not badly injured and has since made a full recovery.”