AN medic who sexually assaulted a patient in the back of an ambulance was allowed to continue working and to train for promotion despite two investigations into his behaviour, a court heard.

Today, Mark Jones is a convicted sex offender after a colleague spotted him pulling down a patient's top in the back of an ambulance as they took her to York Hospital on July 30, 2013. The patient was drowsy after taking an overdose.

North Yorkshire Police praised the ambulance service staff who reported his crime to them and said the case should not deter the public from contacting the emergency services.

Jones has not worked a shift as an emergency medical technician since and was sacked by Yorkshire Ambulance Service in November. He now works as a brewery delivery driver.

Judge Jim Spencer QC said Jones had committed a "gross breach of trust" but he had been "caught in time before it got too serious".

Jones, 55, of Tennant Road, Acomb, was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and put on the sex offenders' register for seven years. He must pay £1,200 prosecution costs and a £100 statutory surcharge.

He had denied sexual assault but was convicted by a jury.

Paramedic Amy Moss told the jury she shouted when she saw the sexual assault as she was preparing to park the ambulance at York Hospital, and confronted Jones.

"He said I don't know why I do it," she said in the witness box. "He described it like a compulsion. He said it was worse at times of stress. .... He said he knew he needed help."

Jones claimed to the jury that he needed to check the woman's chest for injuries and was not acting sexually. He said he empathised with her because he suffered from depression.

"I wanted information to hand over to the nurse at the hospital so that the nurse would understand how special this patient was," he said.

Witnesses from Yorkshire Ambulance Service said Jones had been suspended from duty and arrested on an allegation of sexually assaulting a patient in 2010 and suspended and investigated in 2012 for alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a patient. On each occasion no further action was taken and he returned to duty.

Jones told the jury he was under stress at the time because he had failed a paramedic training exam the day before. He denied ever behaving inappropriately towards patients.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said:

“The Trust has contributed fully to the police enquiry surrounding this case and can confirm that Mark Jones was suspended from duty immediately after the allegation was made in July 2013. Following a formal internal investigation he was dismissed from the organisation in November 2013.

“With regard to two previous allegations, one was withdrawn and the other was investigated by police but not pursued due to insufficient evidence. In both cases internal investigations were conducted at the Trust in line with policy.

"The evidence of “compulsion” which emerged in this trial was not previously available to the Trust."

Detective Constable Charlotte Gregory of North Yorkshire Police’s Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit, said: “No sentence can fully reflect the enormity of the impact his actions have had on his victim and his colleagues at Yorkshire Ambulance Service. The patient was in an extremely vulnerable state when the ambulance service was called by her family, who then entrusted her into their care in order for her to receive appropriate medical care.

“Mark Jones is a disgrace to the emergency services who the public trust in times of trauma and need. His conviction will assist in the safeguarding of vulnerable people from him.

“I hope the public are reassured by this result and the seriousness by which it was investigated and will not be discouraged from contacting any emergency service in the future when they need to.”