Paramedic who made almost £235,000 by selling stolen defibrillators ordered to pay back just £32,508

Scott Sutherland, 49, pinched 47 of the life-saving devices from ambulance stations across the north west having travelled from his home near the south coast.

He would then sell the equipment, valued at more than £10,000 each, online to community responders and on demand to a buyer abroad.

He was jailed for three years in November 2021 after pleading guilty to the thefts at Liverpool Crown Court.

He appeared before the same court on Monday for Proceeds of Crime Act where judge David Swinnerton heard how he benefited to the tune of £234,408.03.

The judge ordered Sutherland to repay £32,508.04 in compensation to North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) within three months or serve a further three years in prison.

The court also approved an order for the forfeiture of the defibrillator found in his home, the paramedic coat he used to commit the thefts and his mobile phone.

During his sentencing hearing in 2021, prosecutor Nardeen Nemat explained how Sutherland was employed as a paramedic by NWAS from 1995 to 2019.

His service included work with the specialist hazardous area response team in Greater Manchester and later across Cheshire and Merseyside.

On February 11, 2020, he committed burglaries at ambulance stations in Runcorn, Bootle and Kirkby, stealing three defibrillators and a charging station.

At 9.46pm, he was spotted entering the car park of Bootle Ambulance Station wearing high-visibility paramedic clothing and a beanie.

He left his car, entered a parked ambulance, exited with a green holdall containing a defibrillator valued at £10,105.10 and drove away.

On the same night, Sutherland travelled to Runcorn Ambulance Station at Halton Hospital, gaining entry to the secure site using a pin code widely known to paramedic staff.

CCTV footage showed him wearing the same clothing taking two more defibrillators from two ambulances, again worth £10,105.10 each.

He committed a third theft at Kirkby Ambulance Station, taking a charging station from a pin-locked storeroom to the value of 1,108.80.

Messages from the defendant’s phone from the night included "what on God’s earth am I doing" and "three in total plus charger’".

Cops identified that a vehicle registered to hire company had been travelling near to the ambulance station around the time the incident occurred.

ANPR analysis showed that the vehicle had travelled from Plymouth on the day of the incidents and further checks showed it had been hired out by Sutherland.

Police executed a warrant at Sutherland’s home address on Pearse Gardens in Modbury, Devon, and he was arrested.

He was subsequently charged with two counts of burglary, one count of theft from a vehicle and another of theft as an employee.

While searching the address officers recovered one of the stolen defibrillators along with a NWAS coat, which Sutherland wore when committing his crimes.

A mobile phone was also recovered from the address and checks on the phone revealed that he had sold the other two defibrillators and charger on eBay for £7,495.

An investigation revealed the defendant was in communication with a man based in the Czech Republic who was buying the defibrillators.

Between November 2017 and August 2019, 20 transactions via Sutherland’s PayPal showed he was paid £32,487.80, as well as a further nine transactions on eBay totalling £30,408.