Sheffield paramedics feared for safety as woman they were sent to help brandished knife at them in Nether Edge

The paramedics were dispatched to a property on Steade Road, Nether Edge, in the early hours of September 2, 2020, after receiving reports that a woman at the property was self-harming.

When they arrived, the defendant, whose name The Star has chosen not to include due to her being particularly vulnerable, was sat outside the property smoking a cigarette.

Prosecuting barrister Andrew Bailey told Sheffield Crown Court that after a brief conversation, the paramedics were invited into the defendant’s kitchen.

A short while later she told them ‘I don’t need to be f****** watched’.

Mr Bailey said the paramedics quickly became concerned about her mental health, and phoned a nurse from the out-of-hours ‘crisis team’ for the defendant to speak to, but she refused.

"There was a tapping noise, and when they turned around she was tapping the worktop with a knife. She was asked if she had a knife, was told to put it down and not to harm herself,” added Mr Bailey.

The defendant did not put the knife down, and during an altercation in her hallway, pointed the knife in the direction of the two paramedics, at which point they ran out of the property ‘in fear for their safety,’ the court heard.

Police were called to the scene, and after the woman was checked over in hospital, she was arrested and taken to a police station for interview.

In statements read to the court, one of the paramedics said he joined the Ambulance Service to help people, and did not expect to be put into situations in which his safety was put at risk.

The second paramedic said he was ‘genuinely in fear’ for his safety during the incident, adding that he should be able to come to work without being made to feel fearful.

At an earlier hearing, the defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, on the basis that she did not intend to scare them and the fear they felt was as a result of her ‘recklessness’.

The defendant, who is in her 30s, had a clean criminal record prior to this incident, the court heard.

Rebecca Stevens, defending, said that at the time of the incident, the defendant was experiencing a ‘mental health crisis’, and has subsequently sought help from her GP for her mental health problems.

Ms Stevens continued by saying the defendant was ‘very remorseful,’ and was ‘adamant’ that she did not have any intention to scare the paramedics, but accepted she had acted recklessly.

She referred the judge, Recorder Megan Rhys, to the pre-sentence report which recommended that the defendant should be sentenced to a community order, an element of which would provide her with assistance for her mental health problems.

Recorder Rhys said she accepted that the defendant had ‘no intention to harm anyone other than herself,’ but also acknowledged the fear the ambulance crew must have felt as a result of her actions.

She agreed the defendant would benefit from the help available through a community order, and sentenced to an 18-month community order and a 25 rehabilitation activity requirement.

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