Portsmouth man jailed for meat cleaver attack on ambulance driver

The judge said Paul Searle carried out an "extremely frightening attack" that "didn't need to happen"

A man who attacked an ambulance driver with a meat cleaver has been jailed for seven years.

Paul Searle, 59, threatened to cut Scott Bruce's ear off during the incident in Fareham in February 2021.

He also pulled the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) employee out of the moving vehicle, causing it to crash into a parked car.

He was sentenced for wounding with intent at Swindon Crown Court.

Judge Keith Cutler told Searle it was an "extremely frightening attack" that "didn't need to happen".

He added: "It was an attack on dedicated paramedics who were doing their job and responding to your call."

Searle was jailed for six and a half years for wounding Mr Bruce, and a further six months for assaulting paramedic Emma Cooper.

He also received a concurrent 18-month sentence for threats with a bladed article.

Mr Bruce and Ms Cooper rushed to Glenesha Gardens in the early hours of 11 February 2021 during the third national Covid-19 lockdown.

Searle had been experiencing breathing difficulties but the two SCAS staff retreated to their vehicle when he became aggressive.

"He started to open the door of the cab," Mr Bruce told the BBC.

"He turned round and said to me, 'So you think you're a big man, are you? How about I take your *expletive* ear off with this meat cleaver?' which he then raised above his head.

"That was the first time I saw the blade."

'Terrified'

The driver tried to restrain him but was dragged out of the ambulance and sliced between his thumb and finger.

He said the reversing vehicle then "scooped" them both up as it rolled backwards.

Ms Cooper then tackled his attacker to the ground and they were able to pin him down until police arrived.

"I genuinely thought he was butchering Scott in the street," she told the BBC.

"I've got kids at home, so I don't know why I did this, but I was terrified for Scott and rugby tackled the patient below the knee."

Mr Bruce said there was a "lot of blood all over my uniform and all over the road", before Ms Cooper could bandage his wound.

Paul Searle threatened to cut Scott Bruce's ear off

The court heard both SCAS crewmembers had experienced PTSD and anxiety attacks since the incident, and had undergone therapy.

Ms Cooper had been grinding her teeth in the night ever since, causing a number of teeth to fracture and crumble.

In a tearful statement to the court she said: "Every time I see an empty driver's seat in the ambulance, this could even be from opening the cab door to get my lunch or getting in it before my crewmate... will for now always flash me back to seeing Scott being pulled out of the vehicle."

Mr Bruce, who is 64 and is retiring later this year, took five-and-a-half months off work, required physiotherapy, and still has pain in his hand.

"I'm just glad that I'm back in the job that I love, and that I can continue now until I retire", he said.

Tracy Redman, head of operations for SCAS southeast, said any verbal or physical abuse to staff was "completely unacceptable".

She said she hoped the sentence would be a "suitable deterrent and reduce the risk of other members of the ambulance service suffering the traumatic experience that Emma and Scott endured".

Searle, of St David's Road, Portsmouth, had no previous convictions but once received a caution for battery.

He was found guilty following a three-day trial in November.

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