A suspended jail sentence given to a 51-year-old thug from Burton who attacked two paramedics treating him has been slammed by ambulance chiefs as "hugely disappointing".

West Midlands Ambulance Service has branded the actions of Jancis Lacplesis "totally unacceptable" after he assaulted paramedics trying to transfer him from a stretcher to a hospital bed.

Steve Elliker, West Midlands Ambulance Service's head of security and safety, said the suspended jail sentence flew in the face of public opinion which "regularly expresses outrage at unprovoked attacks on ambulance staff".

Lacplesis, from Derby Street, Burton, had appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court where he admitted two assault charges and an offence of criminal damage.

As well as admitting attacking a male paramedic and a female paramedic on October 16, he also pleaded guilty to damaging a car door panel belonging to another male in Burton on the same date. He also admitted failing to attend court on December 28.

The paramedics had been called out to a drunk Lacplesis due to a previous incident, the court was told.

Lacplesis was made the subject of a six-week jail sentence suspended for 12 months. Magistrates said his punishment was severe because the offence was serious and involved assaults on paramedics trying to do their jobs.

He must also pay £290 compensation and was ordered to complete alcohol treatment requirements.

West Midlands Ambulance Service’s head of security and safety Steve Elliker said: "This is an extremely disappointing sentence and flies in the face of the public opinion that regularly expresses outrage at these unprovoked attacks on ambulance staff.

"It is completely unacceptable that our staff are subjected to physical and verbal abuse when they are trying to help people in their hour of need. In this case, the two members of staff were assaulted as Lacplesis was transferred from the stretcher to a hospital bed.

"A recent letter to the [ambulance] trust from the Attorney General, Robert Buckland QC MP, states that: 'We need to ensure that our emergency workers, those in the frontline responding to life or death situations, have the full protection of the law in carrying out their duties.

"While the new Emergency Services Workers (Offences) Bill, currently going through Parliament, will bring very welcome additional powers to the courts, we believe that they already have sufficient powers to show perpetrators that assaults on ambulance staff will not be tolerated.

"To see yet another person who has assaulted one of our staff walk out of court is hugely disappointing and does nothing to provide assurance to our staff that they will get the protection of the courts going forward which can only have a negative effect on their ability to do their job in the often difficult and dangerous surroundings that they find themselves in."

A spokesman for the judiciary service would not comment on the sentence in this case, but said: "All judges and magistrates deal with each case individually. They will make a decision based on the facts of each case and within sentencing guidelines. For example there may be aggravating and mitigating factors in each case which may influence the outcome of the sentence."