Rotherham thief stole from ambulance while paramedic was treating a patient

Jason Shields stole the backpack, which contained her nurse's watch, from an ambulance parked on Dale Road, at around 7pm, on March 21, prosecutor James Baird told Sheffield Crown Court.

Bank cards from inside the bag were used later on that same day in the Rawmarsh area of Rotherham and Shields was identified by CCTV.

In a statement, the paramedic said she had been left feeling "unsettled to think someone could steal from a working ambulance," and was "sad and stressed” after working a 12-hour shift. It took her more than two hours to cancel the cards, leaving her without access to money.

Two days later, Shields broke into a home on Barnsley Road, and stole a watch and a £1,000 laptop, which contained "irreplaceable" pictures of the owner's late father.

And on the same day he asked a taxi driver to drive him to a supermarket, and made off without paying him.

He was arrested in possession of a bank card which had been stolen in another burglary.

The court heard he has previous convictions for 105 offences, and received a 78 month sentence in 2016.

Dermot Hughes, mitigating, said Shields was released from prison in December 2019. He took the advice of a police officer, left Rotherham, and went to a drug rehab clinic in Preston.

"He was highly-regarded. He was doing a lot of good work. He inspired the students and offered genuine insight into the problems that drugs and offending cause," Mr Hughes said.

But Shields returned to Rotherham for his aunt's funeral in February, where he met old associates with access to heroin.

"That set off a chain of offending which leads him to your honour today," Mr Hughes said.

Shields, 35, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to burglary, handling stolen goods, fraud, making off without paying and theft.

On Friday, Judge Roger Thomas QC described the theft as "the meanest and most unforgivable of offences."

"She was trying to cope with the present pandemic that's besetting the country," he told Hardy, sentencing him to four years in prison.