A FORMER Hampshire paramedic who struck up a five-month affair with a ‘vulnerable’ patient after she suffered a seizure has been struck off.

Darrel Dimond, 41, swapped numbers with a woman and also used his work email to exchange ‘inappropriate’ pictures with the unnamed patient and drove to her home for a two-hour sex session while his ambulance was parked outside.

Appearing before a Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS), Dimond was struck off the paramedic register and dubbed ‘a threat to the public’.

The hearing heard how in January 2016 the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) paramedic was called out to help a woman who had suffered a seizure.

At the scene, the pair exchanged phone numbers and, later struck up a relationship, which is believed to have lasted until May 2016.

Dimond, who was suspended by SCAS after the allegations emerged, claimed he never gave his number to the patient and she “must have found it online”. However, the investigation found no trace of his mobile number on the internet.

The HCPTS panel heard ‘Mr Dimond abandoned what he knew to be professional standards’ and he acted in a way to conduct sexual relations in the knowledge she was a vulnerable patient.

Speaking this week, a spokesperson from SCAS said: “Mr Dimond was suspended by SCAS after allegations were made against him and following an internal investigation was then dismissed.

“The trust has no further comment to make on the recent HCPTS hearing and decision.”

Since leaving the trust, Dimond has started a new role as a driving instructor - covering areas including Winchester, Basingstoke and Andover.

On his website for Darrel’s LDC Driving School, Dimond says he became a driving instructor to have ‘real job satisfaction’.