A drunk man grabbed a paramedic by the chest and attempted to grope another ambulance worker twice as they tried to help him, a court heard.

Andriejus Jafimovas, 53, was 'intoxicated' when paramedics were called to him in Norwich.

Norwich Magistrates Court heard Jafimovas, of no fixed address, was escorted to the back of the ambulance and attempted to grab the chest of one of the female paramedics after they were called to him in April.

The paramedic stepped back'and told him it was not appropriate.

Jafimovas was then taken to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital where he removed his seat belt and touched the right breast of another paramedic.

The court heard she got out of the ambulance as 'she was afraid of what he would do next'.

But as they attempted to get the defendant into a wheelchair he tried to grab the chest of the paramedic who first attended to him.

One of the paramedics told police she felt 'violated and shaken' and was now 'anxious' when called to drunk patients.

Jafimovas appeared at court yesterday after having been found guilty of one count of sexual assault and two of attempted sexual assault.

Natasha Baker, for Jafimovas, said he was a man of previous good character who would now have a blight on his record.

She said he had not drunk since this incident and was remorseful to the paramedics involved.

Jafimovas was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.

He was also sentenced to 240 hours unpaid work, ordered to pay the paramedics £200 each compensation and £250 costs.

Speaking after the case, Terry Hicks, the East of England Ambulance Trust's sector head for Norfolk, said: 'None of our staff should expect to go to work and be subject to abuse of any kind - our colleague was sexually assaulted and this is not acceptable.

'The sentence handed down will hopefully deter Jafimovas from ever doing this again.

He added: 'We want to assure our staff and their loved ones that EEAST does everything possible to ensure allegations of abuse are taken as far as possible through the relevant proceedings to ensure we get justice.'