AN AMBULANCE worker savagely beaten up earlier this year while trying to do her job has been attacked again.

In the latest incident, Mandy Taylor, 42, was assaulted after arriving at a call out in Chatham. Although her injuries weren’t as serious as on the previous occasion in January, the paramedic was still traumatised.

It brought back memories of the incident which forced her off work for eight weeks with bruising to her face and stomach, and eventually saw her attacker jailed for five months.

Attacks on ambulance staff are becoming a regular occurrence in Kent. Staff are now given self-defence training to help ward off would-be attackers. One paramedic, Sheldon Jury, has even joined the police for riot training.

Extra medical staff are drafted in to help the police with large football matches when violence may start. But they need to know how to protect themselves.

Operations manager Les Gilling said: “Most attacks are verbal, but there are times when we are physically attacked. Most of the attacks are from people who have been drinking or who have been taking drugs.”