Stu Cockburn: St John Ambulance Operations Manager discusses stricter laws on first responder assault

Paramedics are giving the Government a thumbs up, as it moves to crack down on assaults towards first responders and prison officers. 

It's proposing higher penalties, with five years maximum imprisonment for assault with intent to injure, and a seven year maximum for injuring with intent. 

St John Ambulance Operations Manager Stu Cockburn told Mike Hosking this is a step in the right direction.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the other bit of work that we're getting some
movement on is this crackdown on assaults on first responders.
The existing provision for assaulting police will be extended to
cover the paramedics, that's the ambos, the fire of firefighters,
and the prison officers. Maximum penalty for assault with intent
to injure will increase. The five years injuring with intent
will increase to seven years. The general Manager of Ambulance
Operations for St John as Duke Coburn, who is with

(00:21):
a stud good morning, Good morning Mike. We're heading in
the right direction here.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yes, absolutely, we're supporting any initiative that's going to hold
offenders to account for assaults or violence towards amblance officers
and other first responders.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
How many attacks are there?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
It's a daily occurrence, often a number of times a
day across New Zealand towards our staff. Wow.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
And based on what these drugged up, drunk people or
just nut jobs.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
A majority of them are drugging alcohol related, but often
just people who for whatever reason want a verbally abused
or for physically abuse our people.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Based on what is their problem with somebody who's trying
to help.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
A great question Mike, and I really one. I don't
have a great answer to Our people come to work
every day to do the best they can for people
when they're sick and injured, and it's just unfathomable to
me that people will verbally abuse or physically abuse our people.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
And presumably that you'd want the courts to back up
these new sentences. But having said that, do they do
you think offer a deterrent or not?

Speaker 2 (01:36):
I hope so. We don't know the detail of the
bill at the moment, but absolutely we want people to
be held account if they are arrested and go through
the court process. But ultimately I hope that this actually
deters people from even doing any of this to our
people and our fellow colleagues and the other first responder services.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
To appreciate Stu Carburn, who's the general manager of Ambulances.
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