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Two paramedics found guilty of failing to provide "reasonable" care to a man who later died have confirmed their intention to appeal their conviction – as a huge crowd of islanders turned out to show their support ahead of their sentencing this morning.
Tom Le Sauteur and John Sutherland were backed by a crowd of islanders as they headed into the Royal Court, where they received a conditional discharge for two years.
While prosecutors had asked for a £5,000 fine each, they were not given a fine. They were both asked to pay £500 in legal costs each, however.
The pair were last month found guilty by Jurats in the Royal Court of a health and safety breach in relation to their response to a 39-year-old man who had called an ambulance when he was suffering the effects of an overdose.
Pictured: Paramedics John Sutherland and Tom Le Sauteur in the Royal Square before their sentencing.
Having become aggressive and saying he did not want help from the paramedics, the man later died of cardiac and respiratory arrest while he was in their care.
The Jurats found that delays in delivering care on the night were "unreasonable".
Pictured: Dozens of islanders made their way to the Royal Square this morning to show their support for the paramedics.
However, the decision has sparked outrage among members of the public, which has also led to a fundraiser being launched to help finance the two paramedics' legal fees. Its total currently stands at more than £47,000.
Dozens of islanders were gathered outside the Royal Court this morning with signs expressing their support for both men.
Pictured: The paramedics heading into the Royal Court this morning for the sentencing.
Mr Le Sauteur said the public support being shown was "absolutely incredible".
"It's a real testament to the character of this island and the people in it, to be honest – I don't think we would get this anywhere else."
Pictured: The paramedics have described support from islanders as "incredible".
He confirmed that both paramedics will be appealing the conviction, adding that he hoped the proceedings could ultimately help to safeguard their colleagues should they find themselves in a similar situation.
He told Express ahead of the sentencing this morning: "If there had been a innocent verdict, it would have kind of slipped under the radar. It's certainly my personal opinion and the opinion of a lot of people that this should never have been in court in the first place.
"If we'd have been found innocent, there would have been an element of no harm, no foul – and it could have happened to another member of the emergency services or another health care worker.
"Now it's gone as a guilty verdict, there's so much public attention on it. Hopefully, we can use that to push forward and get something changed from a precedent point of view."
Mr Le Sauteur added that doing so was "more important than ever", noting that ambulance crews "are getting subjected to more and more violence daily".
"I couldn't tell you the reasons why but certainly aggressive patients is something that's on the up towards ambulance crews, and it does hinder the amount of treatment we can give.
"It's a case that permeates through the whole of the ambulance service at this time."
Mr Sutherland also described the public support as "absolutely off the scale".
"I know that the ambulance service are held in high regard, and I guess hopefully us as individuals as well.
"We've always tried to be good people and good members of staff. So to see so many people supporting us and online and in so many other places – just walking from the carpark this morning random people just stop you and talk to you and wish you well."
Pictured: The pair said support had been "off the scale".
Commenting on the decision to appeal, Mr Sutherland added: "We're going to do everything we can because it's not just about us really anymore. This is about our colleagues, wider health, wider emergency services.
"We will continue to fight whichever way we can. But we need to prevent anything like this happening again in the future. People can't go to work thinking that this is going to happen to them."
The Royal Court sentencing hearing began this morning around 10:00. Jurats returned their verdict before 13:00 today.
Follow Express for further details of this morning's sentencing...
Paramedics thank islanders as fundraiser smashes £20k target
Fundraiser launched to help cover paramedics' legal fees
Ambulance Station gathering held in support of convicted paramedics
Paramedics found guilty of failing to provide reasonable care
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