Liverpool court trial for NWAS assault victims

Tuesday, 03 November, 2009



North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) crew members assaulted while doing their jobs,
will now be able to explain the impact
of the assault on their life, thanks to a
new initiative launched in Liverpool by
NWAS and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The Community Impact Statement highlights not only the impact of the assault on the member of staff and their families but also on the Trust in terms of increased
levels of sickness absence, resource implications of covering for absent colleagues who are unable to work, increased pressures and workload and resultant low morale.

It also highlights the problem that when
the Trust's staff are assaulted, if there are insufficient resources to cover ambulances, vehicles may have to be
withdrawn from service. This means the
Trust is operating with reduced resources,
which will inevitably affect response
times and impact on the community.

The purpose of the statement is to give the Courts a more informed view of the
consequences of an individual's actions so
that they do not base their decisions on the incident alone and can consider all the consequent factors of the incident. It is anticipated this approach will lead to more robust sanctions being applied
to individuals who choose to take the path of this unacceptable and anti-social
behaviour.

Sandra Johnson, Safety and Security
Practitioner for NWAS, said: "The perpetrators who attack our staff do not
realise or do not care that their actions have a detrimental impact on the community. In effect they are taking
people with life saving skills off the road and rendering them unable to attend to people who need genuine emergency medical care.

"We hope the statement will lead to stronger sanctions being applied to these
individuals who are abusive towards our
crews. We also hope it will help to send a
message to those guilty of, or suspected
of, committing an assault on ambulance
staff that there will be serious consequences to their actions."

Colin Davies, Head of Complex Casework
Unit for Mersey-Cheshire said:' Assaults or violent behaviour towards members of the Ambulance Service are very serious offences.

"When deciding whether to prosecute,
prosecutors have to be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to prosecute. One of the public interest
factors in favour of a prosecution is that
an offence has been committed against people serving the public.

"The Community Impact Statements will assist prosecutors in making their
decisions on whether someone should
be charged and in cases where the offender
is convicted or pleads guilty the
statement will be presented to the
Court so that those who sentence the
offender are fully aware of the impact of
the offending."

After the Community Impact Statement
is trialled in Liverpool, it is the Trust's intention to roll it out across the rest of the North West.

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