Key Points
- 30-year-old Callum Goult of Maelor Place in Ruabon pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker with actual bodily harm after striking Welsh Ambulance Service paramedic Michael Jones in the face.
- The assault occurred on 5 October when Goult was in the rear of an ambulance at Wrexham Maelor Hospital following a red alert ambulance call due to an injury to his head.
- Goult said he had been “blackout drunk” and “absolutely hammered.”
- Wrexham Magistrates’ Court refused to send him to prison but imposed on him a community order with supervision by a probation officer, a six-month alcohol treatment requirement and £100 compensation to the paramedic.
- Geoff Ryall-Harvey, regional director for North Wales at Llais said he was “mystified” by the decision and urged courts to uphold the law regarding assaults on emergency workers.
- Paul Underwood, deputy chief operating officer of the Welsh Ambulance Service said that assaults on their personnel and volunteers were “never acceptable.”
Wrexham (Wales Times) October 10, 2026 — A senior North Wales health representative has questioned the message sent by a court’s decision not to jail a man who punched a paramedic in the face while being treated in an ambulance at uk/local/wrexham/">Wrexham Maelor Hospital.
As reported by The Leader, Callum Goult, 30, of Maelor Place in Ruabon, was sentenced after admitting assault by beating of an emergency worker. The victim was named in court as Michael Jones, a paramedic with the Welsh Ambulance Service.
The court heard that Mr Jones responded to a red-graded emergency call on 5 October after Goult suffered a head injury. While sitting in the back of an ambulance at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, Goult reached across and punched Mr Jones to the face “with malice”, before lying back down and continuing to look at him.
Goult later told police that he had been “blackout drunk”, adding: “I was absolutely hammered.”
Why did the court refuse custody?
The sentencing decision has prompted criticism from Geoff Ryall-Harvey, regional director for North Wales at Llais, the body that replaced the North Wales Community Health Council in 2023.
As reported by The Leader, Mr Ryall-Harvey said:
“This is another horrendous case and I really feel for the paramedic who was trying to assist and got assaulted.”
He added:
“Clearly, this guy (the defendant) has a lot going on and he needs support – it’s a sad case all round.”
Defending solicitor Andy Holliday told the magistrates that Goult’s alcohol problems could “only really be addressed by periods of detox in a secure environment”. He said Goult had “burned through the chances he’s been given” in the community by continuing what Mr Holliday described as “almost aggressive drinking”.
Mr Holliday told the court that Goult’s instructions were not to apply for the suspension of any custodial sentence. He therefore invited the magistrates to jail his client.
However, the magistrates concluded that Goult’s actions fell “well short” of warranting imprisonment. They imposed a community order instead.
According to The Leader, the bench said its starting point had been a low-level community order, but it increased this to a medium-level community order. The sentence includes a probation requirement, a six-month alcohol treatment requirement and £100 compensation for the victim.
Before passing sentence, Susanne Dixon, chair of the magistrates, told Goult: “We are not sending you to custody; your offences fall well short of that.”
She added: “Custody isn’t really for people like you with an alcohol problem.
“This is a court of law, not a social service.”
What did the health chief say?
Mr Ryall-Harvey said he did not believe the sentence sent a strong message to paramedics who are assaulted while carrying out their duties.
“I don’t know what sort of message this sends to paramedics that have been assaulted – I don’t think it’s very good,”
he said, as reported by The Leader.
“I’m a bit mystified by the way this has been dealt with. It’s disappointing.
“Assault on emergency workers has been made a special category of offence.”
He urged courts dealing with similar cases to apply the law “to the fullest extent possible” in order to deter people from abusing emergency workers.
Mr Ryall-Harvey also raised concerns about the wider effect such incidents can have on frontline NHS staff. He said assaults can lead health workers to leave their profession or move into other areas of work.
“This is not the sort of thing that encourages people to stay in their careers,” he said.
“The training to become a paramedic is long and complex.
“When we lose people from roles like this, it’s difficult to replace and retrain.”
He said he had spoken to people who felt this way, including emergency department staff who had been assaulted.
“They go into other areas or it deters them from working in the NHS altogether, then they’re lost,” he said.
“These sort of incidents strike everyone differently.
“The paramedic in this case was physically assaulted. He was punched in the face.
“No one should face that when going to work.”
Despite his criticism of the sentencing outcome, Mr Ryall-Harvey acknowledged that Goult appeared to recognise the need to change.
“To the offender’s credit, he has recognised he’s on the wrong track completely and he has cried out for help,” he said.
“That needs to be followed up and he needs to get that help.”
How has the ambulance service responded?
Paul Underwood, deputy chief operating officer at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said staff and volunteers regularly work in difficult and emotionally challenging circumstances.
“Our staff and volunteers put themselves on the frontline every day, often in difficult and emotionally testing circumstances,” he said, according to The Leader.
“This case is a stark reminder of the type of behaviour they can be subject to whilst in the service of others.
“Violence is never acceptable and the message is simple – just don’t do it.”
What happened during the assault?
The court was told that Mr Jones had attended the incident after Goult suffered a head injury. The call was classified as red-graded, which relates to the most urgent category of emergency response.
The assault occurred while Goult was being conveyed to Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Rather than requiring further treatment or restraint at that point, Goult punched the paramedic while seated in the ambulance.
The Leader reported that, after striking Mr Jones, Goult lay back down and continued looking at him. He was later interviewed by police and said he had been drinking heavily.
The case was dealt with at Wrexham Magistrates’ Court, where Goult was sentenced for assault by beating of an emergency worker.
Background of the development
Llais was established in 2023 and replaced the former North Wales Community Health Council. It represents the interests of patients and the public in health and social care services across Wales.
The Welsh Ambulance Service provides emergency and urgent care across Wales, including in Wrexham and the wider North Wales region. Its staff and volunteers respond to 999 calls, urgent requests and hospital transfers.
Assaults on emergency workers are treated as a distinct category of offence in England and Wales. The maximum custodial sentence for common assault against an emergency worker is one year, although the sentence imposed depends on the facts of each case, the offender’s record, mitigation and the court’s assessment of harm and culpability.
In this case, the magistrates chose a community-based sentence rather than immediate custody. The order includes supervision by the Probation Service and a six-month alcohol treatment requirement, alongside £100 compensation for the injured paramedic.
Prediction: how could this affect paramedics and patients?
For paramedics and other frontline ambulance staff in Wrexham and across North Wales, the case is likely to reinforce concerns about personal safety while responding to emergencies. Comments from Llais and the Welsh Ambulance Service indicate that violence can affect staff morale, retention and confidence when attending unpredictable incidents.
For patients, the potential impact lies in workforce pressure. If assaults contribute to staff leaving ambulance roles or moving elsewhere in the NHS, replacing and retraining experienced paramedics can take time. That may place additional demands on remaining crews and affect the availability of experienced staff in local emergency response.
For offenders with alcohol-related problems, the sentence signals that Wrexham magistrates considered a supervised community order and treatment requirement more appropriate than custody in this instance. The effectiveness of that approach will depend on Goult’s engagement with probation and alcohol treatment, and on whether further offences occur.
For the wider public, the case is likely to renew debate about how courts balance punishment, rehabilitation and the protection of emergency workers—particularly where an offender has invited custody but the court decides a community sentence better addresses the underlying causes of offending.
