Man who assaulted paramedics escapes jail

A man who assaulted two London Ambulance Service (LAS) workers, who came to his aid when he was drunk, has escaped jail.

Stuart Gellatly, 28, of Snells Park, Enfield, was handed a 12 month community order, and ordered to pay compensation totalling £600 to his victims, after pleading guilty to actual bodily harm (ABH) and assault on an emergency worker at Inner London Crown Court on Friday 13 March 2020. 

The two paramedics went to Gellatly’s assistance after he passed out through alcohol consumption outside a nightclub on Watling St in the early hours of Sunday 2 June 2019. The ambulance crew managed to get Gellatly up off the floor and into the rear of the ambulance where he began to behave in a threatening way, grabbing and pushing one of the LAS workers before choking the other crew member and subsequently breaking a bone in the victim’s neck. 

Gellatly then ran from the ambulance, through the City, before being apprehended by City of London Police officers who had to use Taser to subdue the defendant. 

Detective Sergeant Christopher Arnold, from the City of London Police, said: 

“It is unacceptable for anyone to be the subject of a violent attack such as this, especially individuals who are just doing their job. 

“It is important to remember that behind the uniform, emergency service workers are ordinary people doing extraordinary jobs. It is intolerable that, when helping someone, they are physically or verbally abused.”