AN 'alcoholic' patient threatened to throw himself off a bridge and later pulled out a knife in front of paramedics after trying to get off a moving ambulance.

Neal Yeomans had been on his way to hospital via ambulance when he demanded to get out on a busy dual carriageway - the A449 near Worcester.

When paramedics were forced to stop the ambulance in Ombersley Road in Worcester Yeomans was seen with the black and green handled kitchen knife during the incident on February 8.

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The 40-year-old of Dry Mill Lane, Bewdley, admitted possessing a knife in a public place when he appeared before magistrates in Worcester on Thursday.

Worcester News:

GUILTY: Neal Yeomans admitted having the knife

 

By his plea he had also breached a suspended sentence order imposed for possession of an unloaded air rifle and ammunition, an order which had already been extended once.

We reported how a large number of police cars and officers were seen along Ombersley Road around the time of the incident.

Melanie Winterflood, prosecuting, said: "West Midlands Ambulance Service were called to attend this gentleman who was reported to have some cuts to his hands and had mentioned to people in the vicinity that he wanted to launch himself off a bridge."

 

Worcester News:

GUILTY: Neal Yeomans at Worcester Magistrates Court

 

An ambulance arrived in Bewdley and paramedics wanted to take him to hospital to be assessed as they had concerns both about his mental health and his injuries. He agreed to go with them,

"Before going onto the ambulance they asked him if he had anything with him which is dangerous. He says no" said Miss Winterflood.

Yeomans was then taken on the half hour journey to Worcestershire Royal Hospital but, as the journey progressed, he was described as getting more agitated, including trying to take his seatbelt off and telling paramedics he does not want to go to hospital.

"He said he wanted to get off the ambulance" said Miss Winterflood.

Paramedics explained to Yeomans that they could not stop as they were on a dual carriageway. Miss Winterflood said: "He becomes more and more agitated, suggesting the ambulance staff are lying to him."

One of the paramedics tried to activate her red emergency backup button. The ambulance stopped in Ombersley Road and other paramedics opened the door to let him off.

Yeomans then took out the knife and was seen, including by an independent witness, sitting on a wall by a garage. A garage worker also heard the knife - a black and green-handled kitchen knife - fall to the floor. He answered no comment to questions put to him by police.

Miss Winterflood said no violence was used towards paramedics and there was no suggestion he was brandishing the knife. "He certainly did not threaten anyone with it" said the prosecutor.

She said Yeomans was known to the courts but there were gaps in his offending.

Julia Powell, defending, said Yeoman's last conviction was in December 2020 for possessing an unloaded air weapon in a public place, an offence committed on bail.

Before this, she said he had been away from the criminal justice system for 12 years. In March 2020 he lost his driving licence because of a diagnosis of epilepsy. Because of the loss of his licence, he lost his job.

His mother died in June 2020. He has since been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. "He's an alcoholic" she said.

She added: "He doesn't recall it at all but he doesn't seek to have a trial. He accepts if that is what they (paramedics) say happened the that is probably right."

Mrs Powell said Yeomans had said: "I did have a knife. I completely forgot it was there. I don't know where I picked it up from."

However, she said he now had a job as a senior transport adviser in charge of 25 drivers and two articulated lorries, tracking and monitoring their progress over computer.

Magistrates fined him £100 for breaching the suspended sentence order. They decided not to activate the suspended sentence, citing the progress he had made.

Instead, they made another suspended sentence order of eight weeks suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

They further ordered him to make a contribution to costs of £185 and pay a victim surcharge of £128. Magistrates ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the knife.