A middle-aged telesales advisor who lived a bizarre double life posing as a paramedic was jailed yesterday for indecently assaulting a teenage girl and a housewife while pretending to examine them.

Gerard Slater posed as a paramedic for at least a decade.

On one occasion he told a college student to take off her top and bra while he checked her blood pressure, and tricked a woman into having her breasts photographed, saying the pictures were for a medical journal.

Slater's double life was finally exposed when the housewife's husband mentioned him by chance to a genuine ambulanceman.

Newcastle Crown Court was told Slater had a deep-rooted fascination with the ambulance service. When interviewed by police, he told officers he purchased uniforms and equipment at enthusiasts' rallies and that, while he lived a Walter Mitty lifestyle, his motives were not sexual.

Tim Gittins, defending, said: "The fantasy life was not aimed at sexual gratification from the outset. He lived a fantasy life which became compulsive and obsessive."

Slater, 42, of Northumberland Avenue, Gosforth, Newcastle, was jailed for a total of three years and three months for two counts of indecent assault and taking revenge. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for life