HIGH JINKS AT THE AMBULANCEMEN’S CHRISTMAS BALL

A paramedic who sprinkled his pubic hairs over a colleague’s cake has been spared punishment after a tribunal heard it was just part of the fun at an ambulance worker’s Christmas party.

Kevin Hamlyn, 41 hurled food and thrust his groin towards guests as if he having sex with them, the Health and Care Professions Council heard.

He threw a potato across the function room at the Marriot Hotel in Peterborough and pretended a balloon was a large penis in front of horrified GPs.

Hamlyn also asked Lily Vida if her boyfriend, student paramedic Michael McIntyre was ‘satisfying her’ before telling her she was ‘beautiful’ and that he ‘needed a Hungarian girl too.’

He was hauled before his governing body for what some colleagues believed was nothing more than festive horseplay.

The conduct and competent committee has found that Hamlyn can continue in the profession without restrictions.

Panel chair William Nelson said: ‘The panel has concluded that the registrant’s actions do amount to misconduct, albeit at the lower end of the scale of misconduct.

‘The panel has concluded that this was an isolated incident in an otherwise unblemished career.

‘The registrant has reflected on his actions, now rarely drinks alcohol and no longer socialises with work colleagues.

‘Taking account of the context in which the registrant’s actions occurred and the fact that the incident was two and a half years ago and that there have been no complaints against the registrant either before or since then, the panel is agreed that it is extremely unlikely that there will be a repetition of such behaviour.

‘The context in which this occurred was a Christmas party at which there was much high spirits and silly behaviour.

‘Whilst this does not excuse the registrant’s conduct, it perhaps provides some mitigation of the severity with which his behaviour would otherwise be judged.

‘The panel has concluded that taking account of the context of the registrant’s conduct, his otherwise exemplary career and that fact that this incident occurred in 2010 and his positive behaviour and action since that time, public confidence in the profession would not be undermined if the registrant was not found to be currently impaired.’

A DVD edited by Mr McIntyre of the party on 9 December 2010 shows Hamlyn wearing a Christmas hat with sellotape wrapped around his face, jokingly thrusting his groin towards women.

Hamlyn, a line manager at Peterborough Ambulance Station, described his behaviour as ‘just tomfoolery’.

He told the hearing: ‘There’s no doubt I was tipsy on the night to the point of being drunk but I wasn’t completely intoxicated.

‘On one table there was a pair of scissors and I cut off some pubic hair.

‘At the time it was just a bit of fun that other people were taking part in.

‘No one else removed their pubic hair but other people threw food and another member of the party spat out food.

‘It was part of the shenanigans going on and removing the pubic hair was part of a dare.

‘Looking back in the cold light of day, yes, perhaps I should have behaved more responsibly on the night.

‘I got carried away with the flow of the night.’

After Ms Vida told Mr McIntyre about the incident he assaulted Hamlyn and was later found guilty of actual bodily harm at Peterborough Crown Court.

Louise Price, defending, had suggested Ms Vida made up the allegations three months after the party in a bid to tempt Hamlyn into dropping the charges against Mr McIntyre.

But Ms Vida said Hamlyn was already slurring his words and appeared to be drunk when she arrived at the party with Mr McIntyre at 7pm.

She said Hamlyn repeatedly made sexual gestures to workmates and junior paramedics during the bash.

‘Kevin had balloons which were quite long and he was making sexual movements with them as though it was an extension of his groin area.

‘He was laughing and rubbing the balloons between his legs.

‘No one else was doing this and it made me feel uncomfortable – I didn’t feel it was appropriate behaviour from a manager.

‘He had some food in his mouth, chewed it, walked to another table and he actually pretended that he was putting his finger down his throat and that he was vomiting and he then spat the food on the table.

‘He then had his hand down his trousers and pulled some pubic hair off, walked to the table and pretty much sprinkled it on the cake he had spat out before.

‘For me it was shocking – I would have been surprised if anyone else would say anything because they would have been scared of getting into trouble or losing their job.

‘The older paramedics didn’t like it, they were gasping, covering their eyes and turning around.’

She said he then followed her outside and began asking questions about her sex life.

‘I didn’t want to be around him and he was looking down towards his private parts and smiling.

‘So I just went outside and he started to ask me sexually-related questions like ‘how is my sex life?’

‘He knew Michael had just had an operation – I was quite upset and walked away.

‘But he asked me if I was from Hungary and asked if there are many beautiful girls there.

‘I said you have to find that out yourself and he said: ‘I’m going to get one for myself.’

‘He asked how our sexual life was and if Michael was satisfying me in bed which I found quite inappropriate because Michael was ill and off work for sometime.’

Hamlyn admitted he threw food at the party and that he cut off his pubic hair and placed it on a colleague’s plate and another’s food.

He was cleared of spitting food at the party.