An Angus drunk who shouted “you’ve got a nice arse” at a paramedic who had been treating him after he fell in a park is on the Sex Offenders Register.
After making the lewd comment, William Whyte, 49, proceeded to urinate in broad daylight in front of children and pensioners in Montrose.
Fiscal depute Jill Drummond told Forfar Sheriff Court the paramedic and an ambulance technician had been called to Panmure Street in Montrose at around 1.40pm on February 7 to assist a man who had fallen.
They found Whyte sitting on a park bench at Mid Links park, with cuts on his forehead and nose.
He was taken into the back of the ambulance and placed in a seat to receive medical attention.
When the paramedic turned her back, the ambulance technician noticed Whyte move towards her.
He shouted at Whyte: “What do you think you are doing?”
Whyte was removed from the ambulance and as he got out, said: “Sorry, sorry, she’s got a nice arse.”
After leaving the ambulance, he sat on a bench again and shouted back: “You’ve got a nice arse.”
He then added: “Are you getting the piggies?”
Public urination
After this, Whyte made his way into Mid Links and began to urinate.
Ms Drummond explained there were children, elderly visitors and other people in the park that afternoon.
Police were flagged down and handcuffed and arrested Whyte before taking him to Montrose Police Station.
There, he told them: “I admit I was p*ssing in the street.”
Whyte admitted directing sexual comments at the paramedic – who cannot be named for legal reasons – and urinating in the park.
His solicitor Nick Markowski explained Whyte is now living in supported accommodation at North Grimsby in Arbroath.
Mr Markowski also explained his client was “a gentleman who has psychiatric issues and involvement” as well as alcohol dependency issues.
“This occurred while heavily under the influence of alcohol.
“He seems to have been out of trouble for a significant period.
“He’s not been drinking for a few days.”
The court heard Whyte’s last conviction was analogous.
Sheriff Krista Johnston deferred sentencing for reports.
Whyte was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for a period to be determined at his sentencing hearing next month.
“Zero tolerance”
Trade union Unison say they are working towards a “zero tolerance” policy to ensure ambulance crews are treated appropriately.
David O’Connor, the union’s Scottish Ambulance Service regional officer, said: “Our members within the ambulance service often work in the most difficult of circumstances, providing emergency care to the public and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and not be harassed or verbally abused.
“Unison, the union for ambulance workers will continue to work with the service to ensure the application of a zero tolerance policy when it comes to either verbal of physical abuse of our members and the wider workforce.”
GMB Scotland, the biggest trade union in the Scottish Ambulance Service, said crews deserve every possible protection from harassment.
Union organiser Karen Leonard: “Ambulance staff do an incredibly important job in difficult, often fraught, circumstances and it is dismaying when some are subject to this kind of abhorrent abuse.
“Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of people appreciate the work our members do but incidents like this are far too common and cannot be tolerated.”
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