A CARLISLE man battling against alcoholism has been jailed after a judge heard that he had briefly tried to 'strangle' the paramedic who was sent to help him.
A defence lawyer told a district judge at the city's Rickergate court that 30-year-old Nathan Foster was suffering from the 'debilitating illness of alcoholism' when he assaulted a senior paramedic who was attempting to help him in the early hours of February 9, 2021.
But since that time, defence lawyer Mark Shepherd told the court, Foster had sought treatment and was making impressive progress.
But despite lengthy defence submissions a judge jailed Foster after noting that he had two previous convictions for assaulting emergency workers.
Peter Kelly, prosecuting, said the paramedic was called out at 1am to a report that Foster was unconscious and experiencing breathing difficulties.
When the paramedic arrived, it became apparent that the defendant’s father did not want him to remain at the house in Burnett Road, Carlisle.
It also emerged that Foster was subject to bail conditions designed to keep him away from that address.
The paramedic said it was apparent that the defendant’s condition was the result of “self-induced” intoxication.
But he was displaying physical signs of reacting to the alcohol he had consumed. When the defendant tried to leave the property, the paramedic thought it appropriate to stop him.
That was when Foster assaulted him.
The paramedic told police: “At one point, the defendant turned around impulsively and grabbed me by the throat with his left hand.”
He expressed shock at this, saying such a thing had never happened to him before.
“I told him to let me go and he eventually did,” added the paramedic.
Mr Shepherd told the court: “He was suffering from the debilitating illness which was alcoholism. I am not overdramatising it to say that the way in which he was behaving at that time is something that could have ultimately led to his death.”
Foster’s drinking was destroying his health, and left him with stomach ulcers. Tragically, said Mr Shepherd, Foster’s mother had been taken into a care home because she is suffering from dementia.
The defendant, who admitted a common assault on the paramedic, was unable to have a relationship with her because she had no memory of anything or anyone, said Mr Shepherd.
Mr Shepherd said: “He’s found it incredibly difficult to deal with. He has also suffered an extremely difficult leg-break, and needed pins and rods inserted and this has prevented him from being able to undertake work and have the lifestyle he would wish for.
"Unfortunately, he hit the bottle around five years ago and since that time his situation became progressively worse.”
Yet while remanded in custody for an offence he was ultimately acquitted of, Foster accessed help both in prison and then in the community. Mr Shepherd said: “He remains a recovering alcoholic but he is very much a recovering one.”
He had engaged with the drug and alcohol agency Unity.
Foster recognised that if he had carried on drinking as he was he would have killed himself and that the period he spent in custody last summer probably saved his life.
He was now taking medication which meant that if he takes any alcohol he will be violently sick, the court heard.
Commenting on the defendant grabbing the paramedic’s throat, the lawyer added: “It was an instinctive grab.”
Deputy district Judge Timothy Gascoyne said the defendant had tried to 'strangle the paramedic while in a drunken rage.'
If it had been the first time Foster had been before a court for such an offence, a community penalty may have been appropriate, said the judge.
He added: "But twice in 2020 you assaulted an emergency worker. I accept you have done some good work since then but you were regularly assaulting paramedics and emergency workers."
The judge jailed Foster for four months. He also told the defendant he must pay the paramedic £150 compensation.
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