Medic jailed for theft from body

David Wright admitted theft charges

A former paramedic from Derbyshire has been jailed after stealing bank cards and a Pin number from a dead patient.

David Wright, 50, stole the items from the body of David Denbow, 66, when he was called to treat him in June 2005.

Within two hours the 50-year-old of Dale Street, Ilkeston, had withdrawn £500 from Mr Denbow's NatWest accounts.

The father-of-three, who admitted three theft charges and one of attempted theft, was jailed for 12 months when he appeared before Derby Crown Court.

Wright was first on the scene when one of Mr Denbow's friends found his body and rang emergency services.

He was caught when the dead man's family started sorting out his financial affairs and bank staff told them cash had been withdrawn two hours after he died.

Essentially you stole from a dead person - a fact that rightly generates a considerable amount of revulsion Judge Abbas Mithani

Subsequent CCTV footage revealed Wright still in his paramedic's uniform at the cash machine withdrawing the money.

It later emerged he had also stolen £40 on a call-out to a 76-year-old man's home in Chaddesden in January 2005.

On Wednesday, Wright was jailed for nine months for that theft to run concurrently with his prison sentence for thefts from Mr Denbow.

Wright, a paramedic for 24 years, had left the East Midlands Ambulance Service as soon as he was charged with the offences.

In mitigation, Catherine McKeever, defending, said: "David Wright cannot take these despicable actions back. He himself would describe them as despicable. He's disgusted with what he has done."

There was no justification for committing this inexcusable crime Nicholas Denbow, victim's son

Sentencing him, Judge Abbas Mithani said: "Members of the public are entitled, at the very least, to expect the emergency services will be honest and reliable.

"Any abuse of that position of trust simply cannot be tolerated. It's an essential part of the ambulance service that they display the utmost honesty and integrity.

"Essentially you stole from a dead person - a fact that rightly generates a considerable amount of revulsion among ordinary, decent people."

In a statement Mr Denbow's son Nicholas said: "There was no justification for committing this inexcusable crime.

"My father, who was a decent and honourable man, deserved to be treated with more respect by a person in such a position of trust."