A disgraced former paramedic has been formally struck off the medical register following his conviction for possessing indecent images of children.
60-year-old Andrew Martindale was handed a community order and a 5-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order at the Isle of Wight Crown Court last July, as previously reported by Island Echo.
Martindale, of Fairlee Road in Newport, first appeared in the Magistrates Court in September 2020 charged with a number of child sex offences. The matters were deemed too serious to be dealt with by that court so the case was sent to the Crown Court, however, all charges other than the indecent images were dropped.
For making 3x Category C indecent images of children over a 3-year period between 2015 and 2018, Martindale was sentenced to a 2-year community order with 30 rehabilitation days attached. He also ordered him to comply with a 5-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and to pay £1,000 costs with an £85 surcharge.
Now, the former medical professional has been struck off by the Health & Care Professions Tribunal Service, which comes after an interim suspension order was put in place in August 2020.
The hearing last Wednesday (29th June) heard that the situation arose in May 2018 when the Isle of Wight NHS Trust was contacted by Police about Martindale, who was then suspended from his role as a paramedic. The investigation came about as a result of online text and chat communications between Martindale and an undercover law enforcement officer that included references to sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl, who did not exist. However, it was said there had been no attempt to meet up with any child after the exchanges of text and chat messages with the undercover officer.
The hearing found that Martindale’s fitness to practise is now impaired and it was concluded that the nature and gravity of his offending brings the profession into disrepute. Furthermore, the panel concluded that a Suspension Order would not be sufficient to maintain either public confidence in the profession or professional standards of conduct among members of the profession.
As a result, he was struck off.
Part of the hearing was held behind closed doors due to matters being discussed relating to Martindale’s health. Attempts were made for the whole hearing to be kept private.
Until his arrest, Andrew Liam Joseph Martindale was a respected member of the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service (IOWAS) and received his 20-year long service and good conduct medal back in 2017. He first joined the service in June 1994 but it has been confirmed he left IOWAS in 2018.
What the actual f@ck, disgusting he should be locked up and for years aswell,what a pathetic sentence to give to such a dangerous person
‘ Part of the hearing was held behind closed doors due to matters being discussed relating to Martindale’s health.’ Come on man up and stop hiding behind once dislocated elbow that still occasionally plays up.
I wonder how many children this slime “tended” hands on during his career. Ugh. Makes me feel physically sick.
Well unfortunately this man lives opposite a school. So if you have children at Medina, please be aware there is a predator near your children. Stay vigilant. This isn’t a troll post. Keep your children safe folks.
Would be most ironic if he were to be hounded out of town by children who are below the age of criminal proceedings, quite fitting if so, as he clearly likes the ‘under aged’ type, perhaps such would change his twisted sick mind.