Man sentenced to prison for stealing PPE from ambulance amid coronavirus

A man has been jailed for six months for stealing personal protective equipment (PPE) from an ambulance amid the coronavirus crisis.

Mark Manley, 35, of no fixed address, received the sentence at Croydon Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to stealing equipment from a stationary ambulance and assaulting a security guard, the Metropolitan Police said.

Police were called at 9.19pm on Saturday night to reports a man had stolen equipment from an ambulance on St Thomas Street in south-east London, the force said.

He took a bag containing PPE, which included masks, paper suits and hand gel, and when challenged by security staff, assaulted one security worker and racially abused another, police said.

Some of the items taken were left unusable because they were contaminated, police said.

The lack of PPE for frontline NHS workers is an ongoing issue amid the coronavirus crisis, with many calling on the government to do more to get them the equipment they need.

Following the theft, Manley was detained by security and was being patrolled by British Transport Police, the Met Police said.

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He was arrested on suspicion of theft, actual bodily harm and a racially aggravated public order offense and later charged with theft from a motor vehicle, an offense under section 4 of the Public Order Act (causing fear or inciting violence) and racially aggravated public order. Criminal act.

Manley was jailed at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Monday, according to Scotland Yard.

Police said he was also charged with assault on an emergency worker in connection with the security guard, who suffered non-life threatening facial injuries.

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