Victoria's Director of Public Prosecutions wants a man sent to jail for his attack on paramedics after taking a "cornucopia" of drugs at a music festival.
James Haberfield was handed a non-custodial sentence for the January drug-fuelled attack on ambulance officer Monica Woods at Coburg in Melbourne's north.
He avoided a minimum six-month jail term required under new Victorian laws for attacking emergency workers and was instead slapped with an 18-month community corrections order, with the court finding special circumstances.
Victoria's Director of Public Prosecutions, Kerri Judd QC, on Tuesday said she had lodged an appeal against the sentence, which includes mandatory mental health and drug treatment.
Ms Judd said the sentencing magistrate should have imposed a jail term.
Magistrate Simon Zebrowski last month decided against sending Haberfield to jail because of his age, pre-existing autism spectrum disorder and increased risk of suicide in custody.
Sending the "mortified, dismayed and deeply ashamed" young man to jail "would have a disproportionate and catastrophic effect" on his future, Mr Zebrowski said.
This infuriated the state's ambulance union, which feared it would take a death before paramedics were properly protected.
Premier Daniel Andrews also urged prosecutors to consider appealing Haberfield's sentence.
Melbourne Magistrates Court was previously told Haberfield had gone into a psychotic state after the four-day Rainbow Serpent festival where he'd consumed a cocktail of drugs including ice, MDMA and ketamine.
He walked into a Coburg home, terrifying the residents who did not know him.
When paramedics arrived, Haberfield punched Ms Woods in the face, put her in a headlock and squeezed and pinned her to the back door of the ambulance.
Her colleague, Sam Smith, avoided the young man's punches before hitting the vehicle's duress button and sedating Haberfield.
Ms Woods hasn't returned to work since the attack and suffers post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
Australian Associated Press
