Yahoo Finance Woman who attacked paramedics as they tried to help her in flat fire jailed
A woman who repeatedly punched paramedics as they gave her first aid during a flat fire on Christmas Eve has been jailed.
Amy Winter, 40, was taken out of the burning building in Brighton as firefighters got to work tackling the blaze.
However, as paramedics arrived just after 3pm and began first aid she began punching them, leaving both with arm injuries.
She was arrested and pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting an emergency worker on Boxing Day, and was sentenced to six months in prison.
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Superintendent Rachel Swinney, of Sussex Police, said: “I’m pleased to see that this individual has been sentenced by the court to a term of imprisonment for assaulting two paramedics who were there trying to help her.
“All emergency services workers put their lives on the line to protect the public 365 days a year, assaults on any emergency services worker will not be tolerated.
"The law is in place to protect them from harm and to deal with offenders appropriately, and we fully support our own police officers and our emergency service colleagues who continue to carry out brave and extraordinary work across Sussex.”
Assaults on emergency workers are a specific offence, and early this year the Crown Prosecution Service said 20,000 charges were made under the new law.
Three quarters of those were assaults by beating, and police officers were the target nine out of 10 times.
Punching, kicking and headbutting were among the acts of violence waged against them.
Later this year, home secretary Priti Patel launched a consultation into doubling the maximum offence to two years by saying it sent a “clear and simple message to the vile thugs who assault our emergency workers”.
“They are our frontline heroes who put their lives on the line every single day to keep us safe, and yet some despicable individuals still think it’s acceptable to attack, cough or spit at these courageous public servants,” she said.
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