A retired engineer today blasted his ‘nightmare’ jobless neighbour from hell after she was fined just £120 for telling paramedics to ‘move your f**king van’.
Kirsty Sharman admitted a public order offence over the incident in which the crew had been responding to a 999 call from her next-door neighbour in Stoke-on-Trent.
The neighbour, Brian Heath, 66, had dialled 999 after his wife Christine, 68, had trouble breathing – and said he was ‘shocked’ that Sharman had ‘got off again’ after a series of anti-social behaviour incidents.
Meanwhile a relative of unemployed mother-of-two Sharman said today that she had fallen out with her family and is a ‘menace’ who should be in prison.
Sharman, 26, who also left a foul-mouthed note on the ambulance, was fined £120 when she appeared at North Staffordshire Justice Centre today.
Kirsty Sharman, a mother of two, was charged after a picture of the angry note was posted on Twitter by ambulance staff
Mr Heath, who also served in the Army, blasted the sentence handed to Sharman at the court in Newcastle-under-Lyme, saying he and his wife were at their ‘wits’ end’.
Mrs Heath, a retired postal worker, is still in Royal Stoke Hospital where she is being treated for COPD, an acronym for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The couple, who have three children and three grandchildren, have been forced to keep a log of incidents since Sharman moved in next door in September 2016.
Mr Heath said: ‘My wife is still in hospital. This is the fourth time she (Sharman) has been arrested – we are at wits’ end. I call her Teflon because nothing sticks.
‘This has been going on for more than 15 months. I am shocked she has got off again. She was arrested the Friday before Christmas, they kept her in on Christmas Day.
‘We had a lovely Christmas dinner and she went to court on Boxing Day. She was bound to keep the peace with us, us and any third party.
‘She wasn’t allowed to come to (our) street. Since she has been here she has been up till the early hours – she wasn’t supposed to come back here.
‘Police came every day, knocking on the door, but she wouldn’t open the door and she was using the back door. They even sent plain-clothed (officers).
‘Eventually she did open and she was arrested and taken to court. Magistrates let her come back because of her pets. She might be all ladylike but when she starts, she starts.
‘We are called ‘grasses’ any time the police come. It’s doesn’t matter if other people in the street phone them, it’s us, we are grasses. We have had food thrown up our door, she has kicked the door, she spat all down the door.
Paramedics attending an emergency in Stoke-on-Trent were shocked to receive this note from Miss Sharman angered the ambulance had parked in an area for resident’s only parking
‘She said, ‘if you don’t keep your f***ing mouth shut it will be more than spit on your door.’ I even apologised to the paramedics because I knew what was going, she was opening and slamming the door and, of course, she had a go at the paramedic.
‘They said don’t worry, let’s get your wife sorted out. She (Sharman) is very clever. It’s taken our lives over, we haven’t had a life. She will do whatever she wants and the law to it proves it, she is back.
‘The police have done a wonderful job but we were let down by the courts. She (Sharman) had windows put through twice, pig muck up her door and windows. Umpteen people coming round knocking on the door because of what she is like.
‘On Saturday my wife had a sore throat. Come Sunday morning she said, ‘duck, I feel (ill)’ – we phoned 999 and you get the likes of (Sharman). The fine won’t make any difference, I am not holding my breath.’
Meanwhile, one relative, who was too scared of Sharman to reveal her identity, said: ‘She should be behind bars – the woman is a menace.
‘There are a lot of people around here that are petrified of her. She could get into a row with a nun as she is so aggressive. She has fallen out with all her family.
‘Only her mum and sister visit her sometimes. At the end of the day she wrote the note to be simply spiteful. She doesn’t drive nor even have a car. Really, she needs help from someone.’
Sharman scrawled the message on a scrap of paper and tucked it under the back windscreen wiper as paramedics attended a 999 call.
Her note read: ‘If this van is for anyone but No. 14 then you have no right to park here. I couldn’t give a s*** if the whole street collapses. Now move your van from outside my house.’
Sharman admitted using threatening/abusive words to cause harassment, alarm or distress at North Staffordshire Justice Centre.
‘So upset to be sent this’: Paramedic Katie Tudor tweeted the image of the angry note to highlight the problem of ambulance crew distressed by verbal abuse while attending a call
She was fined £120, ordered to pay £135 costs and pay a £30 victim’s surcharge. A charge of breaching a restraining order was dropped.
Chair of the bench Christopher Rushton said: ‘Miss Sharman, this was an absolutely despicable incident directed at an ambulance crew providing a public service to a sick person.
‘That crew should not be subject to actions such as this. We are restricted somewhat by our sentencing guidelines but we find it aggravated.
‘We fine you £180 which we have reduced because of your guilty plea today to £120. In addition to that, you will pay a victim surcharge of £30 and costs of £135 – total of £285.’
Sharman left the note and verbally abused crews when they dashed to a house in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, at 11am on Sunday.
One of her neighbours, Brian Heath, 66, dialled 999 after his wife Christine, 68, had trouble breathing.
The court heard Sharman was already subject to a restraining order, banning her from having contact with the couple.
Prosecutor Liz Ryder said: ‘Mr Heath called the ambulance service because, at that stage, his wife was experiencing breathing difficulties.
‘An ambulance was sent to that address and parked at that address with the rear doors open outside the defendant’s address.
‘Throughout the course of the ambulance being parked there a note was left in the window of the ambulance which read: ‘If this van is for anyone but No.14 then you have no right to park here.
Appearing in the court dock today at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Sharman, through her solicitor Hayley Keegan, offered her ‘most sincere apologies to the ambulance staff’
”I couldn’t give a s*** if the whole street collapses. Now move your van from outside my house.’
‘A neighbour took the note off the rear windscreen and put it back through the defendant’s address.
‘The paramedic who attended Mrs Heath heard banging next door, some shouting from outside but couldn’t be clear what that shouting was.
‘The male paramedic then went outside to get a chair to transport Mrs Heath in the back of the ambulance and was spoken to by the defendant.
‘She said, ‘move your f***ing van’ – he said he was alarmed but had been put in the picture by Mr and Mrs Heath that there were some ongoing difficulties.
‘Mrs Heath was put into the back of the ambulance. There was further abuse in the street, by this time police had been called.
‘Miss Sharman was arrested by police and interviewed. She said she couldn’t recall what time she woke up, she doesn’t work or have any concept of time.
‘She went downstairs, noticed the ambulance outside next to the next door neighbours’ address. She confirmed the restraining order was in place.
‘She said the neighbour was antagonising her by smirking and waving at her. She didn’t respond and she called 999.
The note was left on the ambulance which was parked on this street in Stoke-on-Trent (above)
‘She said she hadn’t written it, never seen it – anybody could have written that and she didn’t leave her address at any point – when she left the address she only did so because she was arrested.
‘By entering a guilty plea today she accepts she was in a public place and her behaviour and language was disorderly and inappropriate in the circumstances.’
Hayley Keegan, defending, said: ‘Miss Sharman offers her sincere apologies to the ambulance staff and accepts her behaviour was completely unacceptable.
‘She doesn’t seek to minimise or make excuses for her behaviour on the day in question, save to say she is sorry. She has accepted she did write that note.
‘(She used) abusive language towards the staff when they were simply trying to do their job.
‘She has been produced in custody today as a result of this note – it is a non-imprisonable offence and she has been subject to extensive public scrutiny and will have to bear that in the days to come.’
Sharman, of Tunstall, was given a police escort after the 25-minute hearing.
Chief Inspector John Owen, Commander for Stoke North Local Policing Team, said: ‘It is really important that public servants who are there to serve and help the community feel safe in their day to day duties.
‘This type of behaviour cannot be tolerated, and I know my view is supported by 99 per cent of our community.
‘Paramedics are there to help those in absolute need, and for them to feel threatened or intimidated whilst potentially saving a life is just not acceptable.’
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘We welcome the outcome of this unpleasant case. We are pleased to see that the magistrate’s felt that this was ‘an absolutely despicable incident’.
‘We hope that this case will serve as a warning to others that abusing our staff is not acceptable. Our staff will only block roads or park in front of drives if absolutely necessary in the interests of patient care.
‘In this case, they were parked at the side of the road and were not blocking a driveway. We would like to thank the police for their support and swift action in this case, but also to the many thousands of people who have sent us messages of support for our staff and the incredible work that they do saving lives each day.’