Irish News

Gardaí probe ambulance sex predator as seven come forward

Seven female paramedics have come forward to lift the lid on an alleged sexual predator in the service who they claim has been drugging colleagues for almost a decade to abuse them.

The man is at the centre of a Garda investigation into the sexual assault at a hospital and giving women the powerful relaxant Midazolam.

It is often prescribed to induce memory loss so patients ‘will not remember any discomfort or undesirable effects that may occur after a surgery’.

In October it was revealed the man was still working for the National Ambulance Service and has remained on full pay despite the allegations. However, he has been banned from interacting with patients at the hospital in the east of the country until investigations are over.

Extra.ie has been contacted by the women who all claim they were either a victim of his or witnessed him acting improperly towards colleagues.

The allegations range from sexual remarks to inappropriate physical contact such as groping.

n one incident, a woman claimed the man had locked her in a Portakabin and was making sexually suggestive remarks to her. It was only when she screamed for help that he unlocked the door.

According to the woman, he brushed the incident off as ‘a joke that got out of hand’. Four of the women contacted their line managers about the incidents but their complaints were not progressed.

A further two women said they did not see the point in making a complaint as the man had previously been the subject of multiple allegations of abuse and ‘nothing ever happened to him’, according to one now-retired female paramedic.

Asked if she had reported the alleged abuse to gardaí she said: ‘I’m a single mother with two boys. I’ve always been the strong one and I don’t want my boys to look at me any differently.

They’re also old enough now that I’d fear they’d do something silly if they knew who it was who attacked me.

‘They know the man through the local community so it’s not like it’s someone who is far away. He lives around ten minutes from me.

‘I know it sounds a bit naive but I just wanted to come to you and tell you “you’re on the right track and to keep going” and this man has been inappropriate with a lot of women.’ The man under investigation has often featured in local news articles during charity events and is seen as a ‘pillar of the com – munity’, said another woman who claims he groped her.

She added: ‘You can Google him and he’ll pop up. He’s there smiling for the camera, trying to look charming and like butter wouldn’t melt.

‘He’s a pervert. He groped me twice on my backside and stuck his hand up my shirt on another occasion.

‘They were all: “Oh, what a terrible mistake. I’m awfully sorry.” But I don’t know how you can slip and fall and try to grab someone’s breasts.’

The women came forward more than four months after it was revealed the male paramedic was being investigated.

The man, described by National Ambulance Service sources as a ‘prolific offender’, is accused of assaulting the woman after he had injected her with Midazolam as well as the powerful painkiller Penthrox. Midazolam is prescribed to relieve patient anxiety before surgery or other major medical procedures. The man is also accused of sexually assaulting the woman after the drug had taken effect.

She added: ‘You can Google him and he’ll pop up. He’s there smiling for the camera, trying to look charming and like butter wouldn’t melt.

‘He’s a pervert. He groped me twice on my backside and stuck his hand up my shirt on another occasion.

‘They were all: “Oh, what a terrible mistake. I’m awfully sorry.” But I don’t know how you can slip and fall and try to grab someone’s breasts.’

The women came forward more than four months after it was revealed the male paramedic was being investigated.