A suicidal woman from Newton Abbot threatened to stab an ambulance paramedic who went to her home  after she called 999 to say she had taken an overdose.

Millie Carr threw her phone at the ambulanceman who had climbed in a window to administer first aid after seeing her apparently unresponsive on a sofa. 

The paramedic fled after Carr said she would stab him and a colleague. Police were called and broke into the building where they found Carr on a sofa holding a knife, which she only dropped when targeted with a taser.

She responded badly to the ambulance crew and the officers because they were all male and she feels threatened and uncomfortable dealing with anyone who is not female. 

She has a history of mental health problems which arise from traumas dating back to her childhood in the care system and is still being supported as a care leaver by a personal adviser from Devon County Council. 

Carr, aged 22, formerly of Newton Abbot, and now living in Torquay, admitted two assaults on emergency workers, threatening behaviour, and breach of a community order imposed last May for previous attacks on police.

She was jailed for three months, suspended for a year by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court. She will remain on the previous community order which required her to attend a thinking skills programme and rehabilitation activities.

He told her: “You said that you reacted badly because the emergency workers were male. You obviously expect the emergency services to work around your every requirement. 

“You seem to think you can reoffend and be treated leniently time after time. While being sympathetic to your personal difficulties, you seem to struggle to engage at every stage. If you come back here, I will have no option but to activate this sentence.” 

Judge Evans also told her there were positive things happening in her life and that he hoped she would be able to move forward with the help that is on offer to her. 

Miss Victoria Bastock, prosecuting, said Carr called 999 on November 18 last year to say she had taken an overdose but then assaulted the paramedic who went to help her by throwing her phone at him and threatening to stab him and his crewmate.

Police were called but she refused to let them in. The forced entry but found her holding a knife which she only dropped when they threatened to taser her. She kicked one officer on the way out after being arrested. 

Miss Rebecca Wood, defending, said Carr has mental health problems arising from her childhood in care for which she is now receiving help. She also has support from Devon County Council and a mutual support group called Avocado Advocacy. She hopes to start work shortly.

Miss Wood said Carr’s past experiences make her very wary of men and she had struggled on a thinking skills course because most of the others involved in group work were male.