A KNIFE-wielding man who terrified members of an ambulance crew on an emergency call and a teenage boy who cycled away from him has been jailed.
Two paramedics were called to an urgent medical incident on Egremont’s Main Street involving a neighbour of Karl Michael Smyth at around 8pm on October 19. After that neighbour was placed in the back of the ambulance, one female paramedic went back to the patient’s house. But as she did so she saw 34-year-old Smyth standing at his own window holding a large kitchen knife.
“He was directly looking towards her and he was making stabbing motions,” prosecutor Kim Whittlestone told Carlisle Crown Court.
As she returned to the ambulance and raised the alarm, Smyth left his home, approached the vehicle still holding the blade and repeatedly trying the door. The other paramedic stalled several times in panic as he desperately tried to drive away, and as the ambulance moved off, Smyth chase while waving the knife in his hand.
That incident was captured on video footage, as was Smyth then appearing to run after one of three shocked teenage boys on bikes who also witnessed the incident.
Smyth was arrested, said he couldn’t recall what had happened and later admitted array and illegal possession.
He was sentenced today (FRI). Recorder Alex Leach heard of the defendant’s genuinely documented history of psychiatric admissions, of his alcohol and drug misuse but also of his intention to address his issues when released from custody.
Smyth, of Main Street, Egremont, was jailed for a total of 16 months. Recorder Leach told the defendant of the teen who pedalled away from the defendant: “He has described the fear you caused to him, as did the ambulance crew.”
