A paramedic with more than 25 years experience was attacked by a patient in a wheelchair.

Bob Luke was bitten and left bleeding following the assault in a hospital casualty department.

The patient who bit him was sentenced to six months in prison.

Mr Luke, 54, of Lemington, Newcastle, said: "He lunged at me and just sank his teeth into my arm until I started bleeding."

The North-East Ambulance service worker had been helping transfer a patient from Newcastle General Hospital to another hospital when he was bitten.

He said: "I was trying to find a wheelchair in the casualty department when I spotted this guy sitting in one.

"I asked the nurse in the waiting area if we could move him into a normal seat so we could use the wheelchair.

"She said that was fine and he did move. But, out of the blue, he just jumped on me, biting my arm."

Andrew Leonard, 25, of Capetown Square, Hylton Castle, Sunderland, was jailed at Newcastle Magistrates' Court earlier this week after pleading guilty to assault. He was also convicted of a charge of assaulting a police officer.

Mr Luke said paramedics were having to face violence, usually triggered by alcohol, on a regular basis.

Mr Luke and other front-line staff, have been calling for a change in the law which would see ambulance staff given the same protection as police officers attacked in the line of duty.

Simon Featherstone, chief executive of the North-East ambulance service, said: "I hope this prosecution will serve as a deterrent to people who attack our workers."