Tougher terms planned to protect emergency workers from attacks

When paramedics received a call that a drunken man was suffering from chest pains, they raced to the spot, attached monitoring equipment to his chest and guided him into their ambulance.

Then he turned violent. Ripping off the test equipment, he swore and spat at the medics and punched a dent in the ambulance.

Last week, the man, Gary Devine of North Tyneside, was imprisoned for 18 weeks.

He is the latest example of a strange behaviour, that of people, often drunk, attacking emergency workers who are trying to help them.

POLICEMEN STONED

Fire fighters, doctors, nurses, ambulance crews and policemen have been stoned, pushed, spat at, and worse. When a worker in the emergency department of a Midlands hospital asked someone to move so that she could pass with a wheelchair, she was screamed at and hit on the head.

More than 11,000 people were prosecuted for assaulting emergency workers in 2019, according to the Ministry of Justice. Now there are plans to stiffen the penalties.

The maximum jail term for assaulting an emergency worker was originally six months. Two years ago, it was increased to 12 months. Now the government plans to double it again, to two years. Home Secretary Priti Patel said longer prison terms would send a clear message that “vile thugs” could not get away with their appalling behaviour. “Despicable individuals still think it’s acceptable to attack, cough or spit at our courageous public servants,” she said.

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It was a 90-minute documentary titled, The Battle for Kenya… the tough reality of running for politics in a country riven by corruption.

Shown on BBC4, the Corporation’s “serious” TV channel, the programme focused largely on Kenya’s 2017 election, highlighting the activities of photojournalist and political activist Boniface Mwangi.

His losing battle for the Starehe seat seemed to sum up everything that is wrong with Kenya’s polity today.

I am in no position to criticise Kenya’s affairs, but as someone who lived there during the euphoria of independence, I can feel only sorrow at the subsequent history.

Worst of all for me was the apparent assumption by most ordinary Kenyans that they should receive money for their vote.

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The police investigation unit is launching a review into whether officers across England and Wales discriminate against ethnic minorities. The stop-and-search procedure and the use of force will be issues examined by the Independent Office for Police Conduct. It follows criticism of the police in recent cases caught on camera, in particular that of black British athlete Bianca Williams.

She and her dark-skinned partner, Ricardo dos Santos, a Portuguese runner, were ordered out of their Mercedes car in London, handcuffed and searched while their three-month-old baby cried on the back seat. The Metropolitan Police apologised later for the incident.

Statistics show that stop-and-search powers are nine times more likely to be used against black people than white people in this country.

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Some good news at last: Research in America says a glass of wine or a bottle of beer per day can help stave off dementia.

According to a decade-long study of almost 20,000 people by the University of Georgia, drinking alcohol in moderation boosts brain power and slows down mental decline.

Drinkers did 36 per cent better than teetotalers on memory tests and were a third less likely to have poor cognitive function.

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There’s an old wartime saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. Could the same be true of the coronavirus?

Using Google data across 90 countries, Professor Jeanet Bentzen of the University of Copenhagen found that searches for “coronavirus prayer” in March 2020 were 50 per cent higher than during the preceding month.

The level was the highest ever recorded, surpassing regular religious festivals such as Christmas, Easter and Ramadhan, and it coincided with the official declaration of the outbreak as a pandemic on March 11. Professor Bentzen described the surge as a global phenomenon, apparent “even in the most secular regions of Northern Europe.”

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Atheist: “I wouldn’t dream of joining you believers, you’re all hypocrites.” Believer: “So, one more won’t make much difference.”

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