26-year-old to appear before magistrates after arrest for public order offences

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A woman has been been charged in Stoke-on-Trent after an abusive note was reportedly left on an ambulance.

Staffordshire police said Kirsty Sharman, 26, had been charged with public order offences and with breach of a restraining order. She will appear before magistrates in Newcastle-under-Lyme on Tuesday.

Ch Insp John Owen of Staffordshire police confirmed the arrest in a tweet, saying the emergency services “must be able to carry out their roles without fear of abuse/intimidation of any kind”.

The arrest came after West Midlands ambulance service said a woman left an abusive note on a vehicle responding to a 999 call in the Tunstall area of Stoke.

The handwritten note said: “You have no right to be parked here. I couldn’t give a shit if the whole street collapsed. Now move your van.”

Katie Tudor, a paramedic, tweeted an image of the note, and said the workers involved had also received verbal abuse.

Katie Tudor (@wmaskatietudor) So upset to be sent this by one of our crews this morning! Along with this note left on their 🚑 they received a load of verbal abuse!😡😔@OFFICIALWMAS @StaffsPolice pic.twitter.com/c4UYdcjv86

Mike Duggan, West Midlands ambulance service’s operational manager, told the Birmingham Mail the note illustrated the abuse faced by paramedics.

“People seem to have no respect for the work we’re doing or the fact we’re helping someone,” he said. “We don’t block roads for the sake of it. What is it going to take? Is one of us going to have to die before they take it seriously?”

Staffordshire police said the incident happened at around midday on Sunday. The arrested woman remains in custody.

In a statement, Owen said: “We will not tolerate abuse or intimidation of our emergency services. This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and we will take appropriate action against offenders.”

In a separate incident last November, West Midlands ambulance service highlighted a note complaining about an ambulance blocking a driveway as paramedics tried to save a man’s life in the Small Heath area of Birmingham.

“You may be saving lives, but don’t park your van in a stupid place and block my drive,” read the note left under the ambulance’s windscreen wiper. The patient later died in hospital.

A West Midlands ambulance service spokeswomanwelcomed the police’s swift response to Sunday’s incident, and said the trust had a zero-tolerance policy towards people who abuse its staff.

She added: “After previous notes were left on our ambulances last year, we’ve received unimaginable support from the public for which we are immensely grateful. Sadly, as this ambulance crew discovered yesterday, there are unfortunately still a handful of narrow-minded individuals who consider leaving vile abusive notes acceptable.”

