Bournemouth man sexually assaulted paramedic in ambulance

Stephen Jones intentionally touched the emergency worker in an ambulance after he had made lewd comments to her.

Jones, 49, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court for a string of offences, which included threats of violence, theft and criminal damage.

The court heard paramedics had responded to a 999 call from Jones in September last year saying he was concerned about a white substance – illicit drugs – he had taken.

When they arrived at his location in Bournemouth he denied making the call but the ambulance crew offered to drive him home.

In the ambulance Jones made sexual remarks, which included asking the female paramedic to perform a sex act on him.

Despite being told to stop, he continued and the paramedic, who was in the back of the ambulance with the defendant, went to put her head through the hatch to ask her colleague to park so Jones could be removed from the vehicle.

While she was doing this, Jones pushed himself against her from behind, touching her sexually. After leaving the ambulance, he made thrusting gestures as the emergency workers drove away.

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Prosecuting, Robert Harding said that in a statement the paramedic said “we do not expect to get treated in this manner”.

Stephen Jones

On November 28, Jones, of Canford Avenue, Bournemouth, made a threat to slit the throat of a female member of staff at Tesco in Wallisdown Road.

Mr Harding said: “This was obviously terrifying for an employee of a Tesco convenience store.”

Six days later the defendant damaged a window and was abusive to staff at Talbot Medical Centre.

On December 26 and 28 he stole from the Tesco store on three occasions, taking Fosters beer and sandwiches.

His final crime on New Year’s Eve, again at Tesco, saw him tell another female member of staff that he would “slice her face open”.

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Mitigating, Robert Grey said before the four-month spate of offending, Jones had no previous convictions.

The defendant was “disgusted with himself” over the sexual assault, Mr Grey said.

Jones admitted charges of two public order offences, three thefts, common assault, sexual assault and criminal damage.

While Judge Robert Pawson was passing sentence, Jones, who appeared by video link from custody, said: “I feel embarrassed, I feel disgusted. I am 49 years old, not nine years old.”

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Noting the seriousness of the sexual assault the judge said: “You had been warned off already. Your victim was an emergency worker in an ambulance. She was at work, she was trying to help you.”

The judge said Jones’s offending was “slightly perplexing” as he had not been in trouble with the law until “very recently”.

The defendant’s drug habit and his refusal to stop taking crack cocaine was a key element in what had happened, Judge Pawson added.

A report from the probation service said Jones was not manageable in the community.

Alongside his prison sentence, he was placed on the sex offender’s register.

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