Woman who lashed out at paramedic avoids jail

Alana Lewis, 26, was given a five-month suspended prison sentence for a drunken outburst of violence her lawyer described as “deranged”.

Lewis, of Central Avenue in Bangor, Co Down, admitted disorderly behaviour, criminal damage, assault an ambulance worker and assault on police.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard she was discovered on the Donaghadee Road in Newtownards on November 10 last year, claiming to have been hit on the head with a bat.

Police could see no apparent injuries but called an ambulance to assess her.

Prosecutor Mark O’Connor said Lewis was shouting and swearing, ignoring requests to calm down.

“Once in the ambulance she lashed out and struck a female ambulance member,” he told the court.

She then starting pulling at wires, tried to interfere with equipment and spat repeatedly inside the vehicle.

Lewis was handcuffed but continued to struggle violently in a bid to remove the restraints from a trolley.

Her aggression continued when she reached a hospital accident and emergency department, striking a police officer on the legs.

Defence barrister Michael Boyd acknowledged: “The type of behaviour described is appalling.

“It can only be a result of a mixture of drink and drugs, his deranged behaviour and inexplicable aggression to people who were helping her.”

In mitigation Mr Boyd set out Lewis’s troubled background and suggested she may have a personality disorder.

“We are dealing with someone who is clearly a damaged individual,” he added.

Imposing the five-month prison sentence, District Judge Fiona Bagnall suspended the term for 18 months.

She pointed out: “Assaults on ambulance staff are really concerning; it was a fairly unpleasant sequence of events.”