Glasgow man stole defibrillator from Oxenholme emergency scene

Thomas Paul McNaught was given a suspended prison sentence

The theft of an ambulance responder's defibrillator from the scene of a medical emergency could have been fatal, a court has heard.

Thomas Paul McNaught, 35, took the machine from Oxenholme station in Cumbria while a woman was being treated for a "serious cardiac incident", Carlisle Magistrates' Court heard.

He admitted theft and was said to be genuinely remorseful.

McNaught, from Glasgow, was jailed for 26 weeks, suspended for a year.

He was also ordered to complete 10 days' probation work and pay £1,200 compensation for the theft, which happened on 1 December.

The court heard a North West Ambulance Service volunteer was paged to the station near Kendal at about 18:40 GMT to reports of a woman lying on the ground.

He started the treatment and placed his defibrillator next to her head, but about 45 minutes later when he handed the patient over to paramedics he realised the machine was missing, prosecutor Pam Ward said.

'Very disappointed'

McNaught had earlier come to the attention of station staff and the responder by making a nuisance of himself as first aid was administered.

CCTV footage was viewed and showed him taking the defibrillator and boarding a train to Carlisle where he was detained.

The responder said he was "very disappointed" by the theft, adding: "If the [woman's] condition had worsened to the point where I would have had to use the defibrillator, the consequences of it being missing could have been fatal."

'Brain injury'

In mitigation for McNaught, Nick Kennon said the offence was "as inexplicable as it is inexcusable".

Mr Kennon said McNaught, of Hathaway Lane, "expressed genuine remorse" and "displayed shamed and described his action as horrible", although he had no recollection of the theft.

The court heard he had suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2005 which had "dogged and plagued him ever since" leading to absences and memory loss.

British Transport Police said the defibrillator was found in a hotel in Bowness-on-Windermere.