Worrying rise of fake paramedics who could put patients in danger

• All paramedics should carry identification with the name of their employee
• But there's been a rise in people impersonating paramedics
• Can be done with ease, as uniforms and vehicles can be bought online

When you call an ambulance, you trust the paramedics who arrive to be trained professionals who know how to save a life.

All paramedics should carry identification with the name of their employee - but in an emergency it is not what most people would think to ask to see.

But perhaps we should do, for there's been a rise in the number of cases of people impersonating paramedics, even showing up at accidents to 'treat' patients.

This can be done with alarming ease, as paramedic uniforms and vehicles can be bought online. It's not illegal, unlike impersonating a police officer.

Tthere's been a rise in the number of cases of people impersonating paramedics or convicted of criminal offences while impersonating a paramedic. However, none has been convicted of impersonating a paramedic [FILE PHOTO]

It is not even illegal to own an ambulance, though it is to drive one with the lights and sirens on, which is a road traffic offence.

Take the case of Phillip Lemonheigh from Neath. Last May, a court in Swansea heard how Lemonheigh, then 59, wore a paramedic's uniform and disguised his car as an ambulance, with blue flashing light and stickers, to run errands.

He was caught running a red light as well as doing 73 miles an hour in a 50 mph zone and giving a false name, and was jailed for 20 months and disqualified from driving for three years.

At least eight people have been convicted of driving offences, as Lemonheigh was, in the past few years or convicted of criminal offences while impersonating a paramedic. However, none has been convicted of impersonating a paramedic.

While there was no suggestion that Lemonheigh tried to treat anyone or take them to hospital in his car, others have. The paramedics' professional body, the Health and Care Professions Council, can pursue such impersonation through the courts, but has never done so.

David Davis, a fellow of the British College of Paramedics, believes the number of paramedic fantasists is growing. 'It started about 15 years ago when the TV series Casualty began giving more prominence to paramedic characters,' he says.

He believes the answer is to make it a criminal offence.

One victim of bogus paramedics is Mrs Chic Hutchings, who is in her 80s. She was contacted by a family friend seeking temporary accommodation.

The friend, Joshua Martyn, then 18, told Chic that he was a qualified paramedic. It seemed like a godsend; her husband Peter was dying of prostate cancer at their home in West Sussex and Joshua said he could help with Peter's care.

'He had a paramedic's car, so who was I to question that?' says Chic. In fact, Martyn didn't even have a driving licence. He had bought the car on eBay for £1,000, as well as medical equipment.

He HAD already come to police attention in 2010 while pretending to be a paramedic to a 71-year-old woman in Crawley, West Sussex, but they could not take action as this was not in itself a criminal offence.

He fooled everyone, including the GP who was visiting my husband. He pretended to help out by taking blood

In September 2011, he was arrested and convicted of battery, as well as with using a vehicle while uninsured and untaxed and driving without a licence.

He was banned from driving for six months and put on a six-month hospital treatment order. He was not convicted of pretending to be a paramedic. Two months later, he met Chic.

'He fooled everyone, including the GP who was visiting my husband,' she says. 'He pretended to help out by taking blood and doing blood pressure tests with the equipment he'd bought.

'When my husband needed a drip because he was dehydrated, Martyn pretended to fit one by taping the tube next to his leg and bandaging it over.'

Chic's son, Tim, became suspicious after Martyn claimed to have put out a fire at Chic's house. When Tim checked with police, they said Martyn had never made an emergency call about the fire.

'But they knew about Martyn's crimes,' says Chic. 'They arrived at my house the next morning and took him away.'

In March 2013, Martyn was convicted of fraud and assault on Chic's husband, through pretending to treat him, and was sentenced to five months' imprisonment at a youth offenders' institute.

In 2014, he admitted further charges of fraud and theft. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Lewes Crown Court in August, but was released in September having served most of his sentence on remand.

In October last year, he was recalled to prison to serve a further six months after being caught befriending vulnerable people again.

'Because of the legal position on impersonating a paramedic, it was difficult to deal with his activities,' says PC Jacqui Thornton, who has investigated several such cases.

'It took me three years to obtain the evidence required to put Martyn before the court.'

She says another recent case presented similar difficulties. Liam Holohan, 22, was convicted in Kent in August 2014 for driving offences committed in his bogus paramedic car. Maidstone crown court heard that Holohan's wailing 'ambulance' led police on a 70 mph chase through a 30 mph zone.

'The court was powerless to do anything about his purporting to be a healthcare professional,' says PC Thornton. 'It could only deal with his driving issues.'

Via her MP, PC Thornton has brought the issue to the attention of Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who said the Law Commission had examined the legal status of healthcare job titles and recommended the Government reviews how titles such as 'paramedic' can be better protected.

Surely, for people like Chic Hutchings, it can't come too soon.