Panic attack patient attacked ambulance crew in Acomb, York

Ursula Ievoli, 59, had called the emergency services to her home address because she was having a panic attack and struggling to breathe, said Megan King, prosecuting.

But when the two-man ambulance crew tried to help her, she kicked out at them. Then she picked up a piece of wood and threw it at the ambulance technician. It hit him on the arm, but didn’t injure him. She threw a glass bottle at the paramedic but missed.

Her behaviour was erratic and she was “in an emotional state,” said Ms King. The ambulance crew believed she was intoxicated.

One ambulanceman later told police he “felt the defendant had no regard for his safety and for that of his colleague,” said Ms King.

The other told police that no-one had the right to assault him when he was doing his job.

Ievoli’s solicitor Jane Maloney said: “She simply wanted them to leave her alone at that point. She felt they weren’t listening to what she needed, and they weren’t being very sympathetic towards her.”

Ievoli had not intended to harm either of the ambulance crew, said the defence solicitor.

“She simply wanted to vent her frustration for them to leave her alone. As far as she was concerned, they weren’t helping the state she was in,” said Ms Maloney.

Ievoli, of Tudor Road, Acomb, pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting an emergency worker on September 12 and one of failure to attend court. She appeared in custody because she had been arrested on a warrant following her non-attendance on October 11.

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A probation officer told the court because of her medical issues, the normal parts of a community order were not suitable for Ievoli.  

The defendant had told her she was not a regular drinker but before she called out the ambulance crew, she had drunk from a bottle of vodka in the house because of problems she had with her neighbours.

Magistrates ordered Ievoli to pay £50 compensation to each of the ambulance staff, fined her £200 and ordered her to pay an £80 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs. The court heard Ievoli lives on benefits.

Ms Maloney said Ievoli had mental health problems for which she was getting prescription drugs. She felt the attitude of the ambulance staff was that she was having a panic attack because she was an alcoholic.

They had asked her to come out of her home, but she didn’t want to do that because she was agoraphobic. She accepted that her behaviour was unacceptable.

The probation officer said Ievoli had told her she had problems with neighbours who lived in the flat above her. On September 12, she hadn’t slept and she got into a state where she had a panic attack.