David Raine, 65, from Congleton attacked Paramedic Daniel Seymour in the early hours of Sunday 15 December 2024.

On Monday 3 February 2025, Crewe Magistrates’ Court sentenced Raine to a 52-week suspended sentence, 100 hours of community service and rehabilitation activity requirements. He was also ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation for intentional strangulation and assaulting an emergency worker.

Daniel and his crewmate were called to Raine’s address in response to a welfare call. Upon arrival, police had already restrained Raine in handcuffs due to concerns about his attempts to harm himself. Daniel recalled, “He had been threatening to hurt himself, so the police restrained him. When we got him onto the ambulance to conduct checks and transport him to the hospital, he appeared calm. The police decided to uncuff him and follow behind the ambulance instead of riding with us. I didn’t object because, from what I had seen, I wasn’t feeling threatened by his behaviour. He’d asked to sit in a seat facing forward rather than on the bed facing backwards, so I got him seated in the chair in front of me and we set off.”

During the transport, Raine initially remained composed. However, the situation escalated without warning. “It was like a flick of a switch,” Daniel told us. “I was writing up my notes and he was talking, apologising for us having to take him to the hospital. Suddenly he lunged for me, grabbing my neck with both hands and strangling me. I couldn’t press any alarms as my first instinct was to grab his hands to try and pull him off me. Luckily, my crewmate saw what was happening and pulled the ambulance over. That sudden movement caused the patient to lose his balance so I was able to push him back but he was still punching me in the face and grabbing my neck. My crewmate was able to get into the back and pull him off me. The police then got on and arrested him.”

Daniel has been left shaken and anxious but has since returned to duty and is taking additional precautions to protect himself. As part of NHS England and Improvement’s body-worn video camera (BWVC) project, all frontline staff have the opportunity to wear a camera whilst on duty and Daniel will not go on duty without one now. He said, “I will always wear a camera now. Before, I didn’t consider it necessary. I was lucky my crewmate witnessed the attack; without that, it would have been my word against his.”

We extend our sincere thanks to Cheshire Constabulary for their support throughout this investigation.