A man has been sentenced to four months behind bars after he broke into an ambulance while paramedics were treating an elderly lady in Southall .

Jeeta Pankhania, of Homerton Road, Hackney, was also ordered to pay £80 in costs at Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday (March 8), according to London Ambulance Service (LAS).

The sentence came after the 44-year-old had pleaded guilty to stealing a mobile data terminal from the vehicle.

On January 5, LAS crews were treating an elderly patient before returning to find the vehicle, parked in Spencer Street, Ealing , had been broken into.

The theft meant the vehicle had to be taken off the road and the crew could not be dispatched to other emergencies until the station picked up another vehicle.

According to LAS, theft of medical equipment from their vehicles has cost them more than £85,000 in the last five years.

A spokesperson added that medical gases, paramedic kit bags, drug packs, stab vests, defibrillators, radio headsets, satellite navigation units, personal bags, infection kits, mobile phones and uniforms are among the items stolen.

LAS director of operations, Paul Woodrow, said: "Stealing equipment from our ambulances and cars while our clinicians are treating sick and injured patients is putting lives at risk.

"Our vehicles hold vital emergency equipment and these actions impact on the care we deliver.

"There is also the financial cost to our service of replacing the equipment.

"Theft or damage to our vehicles will not be tolerated and we will work closely with the Met police to ensure anyone who is caught stealing or vandalising will be prosecuted."