Jamie Burnett (pictured), 20, was found unconscious on the floor at Monument Metro Station in Newcastle
A drunk mother-to-be attacked a paramedic who tried to help her when she was found lying senseless on the floor at a metro station.
Jamie Burnett, 20, was found unconscious on the floor at Monument Metro Station in Newcastle.
An ambulance crew was called out and when paramedics tried to treat her, Burnett lashed out and became very aggressive.
She scratched one medic across the face and had to be restrained by one of her friends and nearby pub bouncers, who called the police.
She was arrested but told officers in interview she couldn’t remember anything as she’d been drinking.
Burnett, who has past convictions for violence and robbery, also claimed she’d smoked a cigarette earlier in the day, which she thought might have been tampered with and laced with ‘legal highs’, South East Northumberland Magistrates’ Court was told.
Burnett was given a 29-week community order and ordered to pay £50 compensation after she pleaded guilty to one count of common assault.
Sentencing her, District Judge Bernard Begley said she was lucky the paramedic didn’t suffer more serious injuries.
The judge added: ‘Your no stranger to this type of offence. This was a member of ambulance crew who was called to assist you and ends up being assaulted.
‘It’s an appalling set of circumstances, absolutely appalling, because you’re not compos mentis because you have taken something. Well, you take something, you pay the consequences.’
District Judge Begley said he had given Burnett a community order instead of a more serious punishment as she was recently given a suspended sentence for a separate offence of affray.
Ian Jordan, prosecuting, said Burnett was on bail for that matter when she assaulted the paramedic on October 22.
He said: ‘Shortly after midnight, paramedics were called to attend Monument Metro Station to respond to an unconscious female who was pregnant.
‘They made their way to the station and found the female lying on the floor. The injured party [one of the paramedics] assisted her to her feet and walked to the ambulance.
‘While inside, the defendant suddenly started screaming and placed both arms up in the air.
The court heard Burnett is now around 10 weeks pregnant and has decided to turn her life around and stop drinking and taking drugs for the sake of her unborn child
‘One of her friends knocked on the outside of the ambulance door and referred to her as Jamie. The paramedic allowed Jamie, this defendant, to speak with her friend to try and calm her down.
‘However, she suddenly and without warning lashed out and scratched [the paramedic] to his face. Her friend then grabbed her and pulled her away.’
The court was told door staff from a nearby pub came to help and intervened while the police were called.
Burnett was arrested and later interviewed, where she told officers she couldn’t remember the incident as she had ‘consumed alcohol and hadn’t taken her bipolar medication’, Mr Jordan said.
In a statement, the victim said aggressive behaviour towards emergency workers ‘cannot be tolerated’.
He added: ‘I came to work to do my job and I was there to help her. I don’t expect to be assaulted. I find her behaviour to be unacceptable.’
The court heard Burnett is now around 10 weeks pregnant and has decided to turn her life around and stop drinking and taking drugs for the sake of her unborn child.
Her solicitor Paul Harbison said; ‘She wishes to express her true remorse.
She had no recollection of the incident. Miss Burnett has, for some time, struggled with alcohol.
‘She accepted a cigarette from someone around Newcastle on that day and believes it might have been tampered with and had legal highs in it.’
Burnett was given the community order to run alongside the a suspended sentence she was given on October 31 for the offence of affray.
She was given a six-month curfew on that occasion and District Judge Begley extended the curfew by a further month.