Moray man jailed for chasing Scottish Ambulance Service medics with knife in Elgin
A serial 999 caller has been jailed for chasing paramedics away from his flat with a knife and attacking their ambulance with the crew locked inside.
Wayne Taylor, of Langstane Place, Elgin, was sentenced on Thursday at Elgin Sheriff Court over the incident.
The court heard that 54-year-old Taylor, described as having a learning disability, called 999 at around 3.25pm on Saturday, September 7.
Fiscal Depute David Morton said the man had requested an ambulance using the emergency number.
But after arriving at the flat and offering help, paramedics left when he refused to go to hospital.
However, a short time later, the crew were sent back to the flat following a second 999 call.
Once paramedics had returned, the court heard, Taylor went to the kitchen and retrieved a “small kitchen knife from the knife block”.
Mr Morton added that the man had “brandished it”, causing the paramedics to run back to their ambulance from the flat.
He added that Taylor: “Followed and pursued the paramedics with the knife in his possession.”
The healthcare workers “locked the doors of the ambulance to prevent him getting in”, before the assailant “began to strike the outside bodywork of the ambulance with the knife”.
The 54-year-old made failed attempts to enter the ambulance, which was not damaged in the attack.
Taylor had previously pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a knife in a public place, brandishing it at an ambulance worker, following him with the weapon and trying to enter the ambulance.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov sentenced Taylor to 10 months of imprisonment over the incident.
She added that “anything other than a custodial sentence” would be the wrong decision in the circumstances.
While Taylor’s “impact on himself” has been an important consideration in some previous offences, the seriousness of the most-recent incident meant the balance has “turned to the protection of the public”.
“The difference here is that there has to come a stage where the protection of the public is a point of consideration,” Sheriff Pasportnikov said.
“Pursuing an ambulance worker and attacking an ambulance, causing them fear for their safety, especially at their place of work, is unacceptable.”
The custodial sentence, she added, was effectively “giving society a break”.
The Elgin man was also due to be sentenced for a further three cases, however this was deferred for good behaviour until April.
Sentence was handed down after Matthew O’Neill, mitigating, drew attention to his client’s learning disability and alcohol problems.
Taylor was drunk during all of the offences he was charged with, according to the solicitor.
“Over the last 12 months or so, alcohol has become an increasingly big problem in his life,” he added.
“His difficulties with alcohol are exacerbated by his learning disability.
“He is someone with a complex set of needs.
“And he has not always had the right support.”
However, Mr O’Neill argued there had been “something of a turn around” recently, with Taylor beginning to interact with support services.
Elgin Sheriff Court also heard details of the other charges against the 54-year-old.
Taylor previously pleaded guilty to four charges linked to two incidents at a supported living facility in Greyfriar’s Close, Elgin, on February 27 and March 19, 2023.
He admitted assaulting a female care worker, by pushing her, along with “repeatedly” striking a male care worker with his hand and knee.
The man also pleaded guilty to uttering “abusive remarks” to the same male staff member, describing him as an “Irish b*****d”, and to repeatedly striking a door.
Staff had confiscated Taylor’s phone after an earlier incident, Mr Morton added, which led to the altercation taking place.
Weeks later, on March 19, the 54-year-old assaulted a different female member of staff by headbutting her.
Taylor previously pleaded guilty to the assault, which happened after he “went to light a cigarette but was advised he could not smoke in the building, it being a non-smoking building,” the fiscal depute added.
On November 21, 2023, the man admitted brandishing a knife at police officers as they responded to a 999 call he made on November 8, 2023.
Mr Morton told the court that officers attended Taylor’s flat to find he was “safe and well” and “did not require any assistance”.
However, after leaving the property, police were dispatched to the man’s flat again after another call in which he warned he had “a knife to his throat”.
Looking through the kitchen window, officers saw the 54-year-old still on the phone.
“He picked up a black-handled knife and raised it above his head,” Mr Morton added.
Police officers told him to “drop the knife”, but Taylor complied only after one officer “indicated they were taser trained”, the fiscal depute added.
A further incident, on November 14, at his home and en-route to Elgin Police Station, saw him “shout, swear, utter threats of violence” and “brandish a walking stick” at officers.
Mr Morton said this occurred after a call between Taylor and Police Scotland, asking that the knife that was involved in the September 8 incident be returned to him.
The man “took exception” to being told this was impossible, the fiscal depute added.
Police attended his home on November 14, and the 54-year-old had “picked up his walking stick, raised it above his head towards the officers, uttering threats”.
Taylor pleaded guilty to “brandishing a walking stick”, along with threatening officers with violence, in connection with an incident three days later, on November 17.
Ambulance staff were in attendance at the his flat, who was experiencing “general pain”, Mr Morton said.
The court heard paramedics reported Taylor “rambling incoherently during that incident”.
His aggressive behaviour continued in the ambulance, the fiscal depute said, with Taylor “thrashing his walking stick around in the ambulance, causing damage to some of the fixtures and fittings.”
He was also pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon, “namely a walking stick”, during the altercation.
Another set of charges against Taylor related to false 999 calls to Police Scotland between December 22, 2023 and January 20, 2024.
