A TAXI driver has been found guilty of attacking a paramedic after an ambulance blocked his route on a one-way street.

Richard Heslop was cleared of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Richard Hannan, but convicted of an alternative charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The case last night sparked a call from union bosses for attacks on frontline NHS workers to be treated more seriously.

Ray McDermott, the secretary of the North-East ambulance branch of Unison, said: "The sentences often do not justify the crime and that needs to be looked at."

A Teesside Crown Court jury considered the case for more than four-and-a-half hours before they returned yesterday's 10-2 majority verdict.

Heslop, of Temple Court, Richmond, North Yorkshire, admitted during his trial last week that he punched the ambulance driver four times, but said it was only because he was attacked first.

The 27-year-old told the jury Mr Hannan had been mocking him and had refused to reverse the ambulance so his vehicle could pass after he picked up a fare in Millgate, Richmond, at about 3am on January 8.

Mr Hannan told the court he feared he was going to be killed in the assault, and described Heslop, who tried to drag him from the ambulance, as a raging bull.

The case was adjourned so probation officers could prepare a pre-sentence report. The judge, Recorder Gillian Matthews, told Heslop: "I want you to be aware that all sentencing options are open, including imprisonment. This is a serious matter and I will take it seriously."

Giving evidence, Mr Hannan told the jury: "It was absolutely terrifying. I thought he was going to kill me. I was down a dark, lonely street at 3am with one colleague, who is smaller than I am, trying to defend myself against a giant of a man."

Mr McDermott said: "Assaulting a police constable in the execution of his duty is a criminal offence separate from an assault on a member of the public, and it should be the same for all frontline NHS staff.

"People have to remember that when a paramedic gets assaulted and is off sick, ambulance trusts cannot simply go to the JobCentre and find a replacement.

"It is not only the paramedics who suffer, it is the people of this region as well, because they lose the skills of that worker for weeks or months."

Mr Hannan, a paramedic for 14 years, suffered a dislocated shoulder, serious concussion and bruising to his face and body.

He was off work for three months while he had intensive physiotherapy and psychotherapy.

He said: "I was unable to talk about it for about four weeks, I just had a breakdown.

"I kept having flashbacks and nightmares about it."