Man convicted of harassing London Ambulance Service paramedic in landmark case

A man has been convicted of harassing a London Ambulance Service paramedic in the first case of its kind secured by the Met Police.

Paramedic Ella Johnson and her crewmate responded to a 999 call for a man at a bus stop in Shepherd’s Bush on 5 April this year. As they tried to assess him, the patient became abusive.

Ella said: “I was trying to help him but instead I had to listen to him swearing at me, using sexist and degrading language.

“He said he wanted to touch me and was trying to grab me. It was disgusting and humiliating as we were at a busy bus stop when it happened.”

She radio-alerted colleagues in the 999 control room to call the police. When they arrived, they arrested the man and charged him with sex-based harassment – an offence which had only become law a few days earlier on 1 April.

He pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday 15 July.

The new offence covers intentional harassment directed at someone because of their sex, including where offenders target women and girls in public places.

Ella hopes the conviction will encourage others to come forward.

She said: “Please report it. It’s not always easy to talk about but you will be supported by the police and the law is there to protect us. Now there are real consequences for people who behave like this.”

Ella recorded the abuse on her body worn camera, which is part of a range or measures London Ambulance Service has introduced to protect its people. All its ambulances and response cars are also fitted with cameras.

London Ambulance Service Chief Executive Jason Killens KAM said: “We are proud of Ella for her courage in speaking up and we hope this landmark conviction sends a clear message that abuse will not be tolerated.

“This new law will better protect women who work in public roles. We will always support our people to report this kind of abuse and work with police to help secure a conviction.

“Our ambulance crews and our call handlers come to work every day to help others, often in difficult circumstances. They should be able to provide care without having to face abuse or harassment – all we want is respect.”

Met Police Detective Superintendent Dan Thompson said: “Women and girls deserve to walk London’s streets freely without enduring obscene abuse and unnerving, scary invasions of their personal space.

“I hope the creation of a standalone category of offending, and our use of it to bring charges, will give victims greater confidence that the whole criminal justice system is taking this sort of unacceptable behaviour seriously.

“I hope, too, that the tougher penalties will cause those who might be minded to engage in this sort of offending to think again.”

At the end of last year, London Ambulance Service launched a ‘Respect’ campaign which calls on the public to show respect to those caring for them on the road and in our 999 and 111 control rooms.

Data released by London Ambulance Service shows more than half of its frontline staff had been attacked while on duty in the past year.*

The Service’s latest staff survey also found that 47 per cent had been sexually harassed by patients or members of the public.

London was the first ambulance service in the country to set up a Violence Reduction Unit to support colleagues to report crimes and work closely with police to pursue abusers.

Watch Ella’s story here (warning – abusive language):Paramedic Ella Speaks Out After On-Duty Abuse | Attacker Jailed for 12 Weeks

ENDS

*Data is from the 2025 NHS Staff Survey which found 54 per cent of frontline staff had been physically attacked while on duty in the 12 months previous to completing the survey.

The survey also found that 68 per cent of 999 call handlers and 47 per cent of 111 health advisors had been harassed, threatened and verbally abused.