A MAN obsessed with the emergency services launched his own ambulance service and tried to transport patients dressed as a paramedic.

Terence Cooper has an astonishing history of impersonating police officers, donning uniforms, checking cars and turning up at accidents.

A Crown Court judge has also described him as a menace to society, capable of causing great damage to Britain's security.

He was jailed in 1994 after he used a false police warrant card to obtain a high-powered transceiver to tune into wavelengths used by police, the MoD, the US Air Force and security services.

He listened to confidential messages about security surrounding Royal events and sold the information to tabloid newspapers.

When he appeared before York Crown Court to be sentenced for his ambulance deceptions, his barrister, Simon Bickler, said his client's crimes could be caused by a mental disorder.

Judge Rodney Grant agreed to postpone sentence until a date to be arranged while Cooper was assessed by a psychiatrist.

Cooper, 36, formerly of Wigginton Road, York, who moved to Somerset, admitted a string of deceptions in April, but sentence has been delayed repeatedly for medical reports.

Mr Bickler said Cooper could receive a community rehabilitation order with a condition to undergo psychiatric treatment instead of a prison sentence for his deceptions, which took place in the York area.

He said Cooper hoped to study law and French at Bristol University.

Cooper has previously served time in prison for impersonation and con-tricks.

After moving to York, he set up the "Yorkshire Regional Ambulance Service" from his rented home.

On a website, he said his service provided a 24-hour-a-day, all-year-round transport service to patients and hospitals.

Wearing a paramedic's uniform, he persuaded manufacturers that he represented the public ambulance service and was lent a series of executive cars to test drive.

He falsely said he worked for the ambulance service to obtain emergency telephone services and to avoid rental payments on various vehicles between December 2000 and October 2002.

A spokesman for the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service said yesterday: "We take a very dim view of anyone posing as a paramedic, which potentially has very serious consequences."