A 40-year-old Suffolk chef sexually assaulted a paramedic while she was attending an emergency call-out after saying: “Can I just say how fit you are?”, a court has heard.

After letting the woman and her colleague into the house, Stephen Denny “wrapped” his arms around the woman from behind and started kissing the side of her neck while she was in the process of injecting an unconscious woman patient, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

He told her how “fit” he thought she was and added: “You are the only girl I’ve ever fancied,” said Gareth Hughes, prosecuting.

The woman told Denny to get off her but as she bent over the patient Denny grabbed her waist with both hands and appeared to move his hips forwards towards her bottom.

“Her colleague told him to get off and that his behaviour was completely inappropriate,” said Mr Hughes.

He said the victim of the assault hadn’t known how to react to Denny’s behaviour and had subsequently made a complaint about him.

The court heard that the incident happened at around 6.30am on July 11 last year.

When Denny was interviewed by police two weeks after the incident he said he’d been drinking the night before and couldn’t remember anything inappropriate happening.

Denny, of Jubilee Court, Norton Road, Bury St Edmunds, admitted sexual assault and was given a three-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to do 80 hours' unpaid work.

He was also given a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Sentencing him, Judge Samantha Leigh said the paramedic had been attending to an unresponsive diabetic woman who was in a coma at the time of the sexual assault.

She said Denny had told the woman that he would have considered “turning straight” for her.

Benedict Peers, for Denny, said he had no relevant convictions and was in employment.

He said Denny had a history of alcohol dependency but had attended Turning Point and things were now going well for him