Bendigo emergency workers are among those confused, disappointed and angry after two woman who assaulted a paramedic avoided jail time.
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Paramedics yesterday marked ambulances with #itsneverok messages to protest attacks on emergency service workers.
Amanda Warren, 33, and Caris Underwood, 20, had their jail sentences for assaulting paramedic Paul Judd in 2016 quashed on appeal on Tuesday.
They were among the first in the state to be charged since the government introduced mandatory jail sentences in 2014 for anyone intentionally injuring an emergency worker.
Watch below: Paramedic Roger Dark is shattered by the court ruling:
The law requires a minimum six-month jail term unless there were "special reasons". The women argued their youth and troubled childhoods constituted special reasons.
Bendigo paramedic Roger Dark was shattered for colleagues injured on the job.
“And I was shattered for our profession as well. It was a dreadful, dreadful outcome,” he said.
Paramedic Jan Einsiedel said many people she and colleagues came across every day had difficult life circumstances but they did not assault emergency workers.
Ms Einsiedel said there was an unwritten trust between paramedics and the community that allowed the job to be done safely and patients to be treated.
“Most people abide by this agreement. There’s a cohort of people who don’t and they need to be managed correctly,” she said.
Health minister Jill Hennessy said she was devastated by the decision and wanted the law adjusted.
"The Attorney-General has now instructed the Department of Justice and Regulation to provide advice and to provide drafting options around changing this law to ensure that these sorts of outcomes are not possible," she said.
It was a move welcomed by Ambulance Victoria CEO Tony Walker and Ambulance Employees Australia’s Victoria secretary Steve McGhie.
The government hopes any changes could pass parliament this year.
- With AAP