‘Our emergency services must be furious’: Man who bashed six emergency service workers walks free

A man who assaulted three paramedics, two police officers, a PSO, a bus driver and a shop attendant has escaped jail time.

Aroub Arop pleaded guilty to 44 charges for offences carried out between 2017 and 2020, including the assaults, and was handed an 18 month community corrections order.

The 21-year-old, who was intoxicated at the time of the assaults, has promised the court he will stop drinking alcohol.

In one incident, Arop stormed a bus in Albion, assaulted the bus driver and then assaulted a detective who was called to the scene.

In another case, Arop attacked three paramedics who attempted to assist him when he was found intoxicated on a Melton nature strip.

They tried to help him into the ambulance when he lashed out, causing significant damage to the ambulance.

Neil Mitchell said the lenient sentence is hard to believe.

“Our emergency services must be furious!,” the 3AW Mornings host said.

“I can’t understand why that man wouldn’t have done some jail time.

“Every indication from the government, and others, has been that jail means jail. You assault an emergency service worker and you get six months.

“Personally I’m not a great fan of mandatory sentencing, but it has been promised.

“He got no jail time because he’s promised to stop drinking! I don’t get it.”

Leader court reporter Paul Shapiro was in the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court when Magistrate Richard Pithouse handed down the lenient sentence on February 18.

“It was accepted that Aroup’s offending was linked to his problems with alcohol. Apparently he has trouble handling his alcohol,” Mr Shapiro said.

“But not everyone assaults emergency services workers when they’ve had a few too many!

“He’s been put on a 12 month booze ban. I believe he was already on a booze ban when he assaulted an employee at an EzyMart store at Footscray.

“He was found to be extremely intoxicated when he did that.”

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