Drizzt
May 30, 2003, 03:19 PM
Nicked for saving a life
By JOHN ASKILL
and MARTYN SHARPE
AN ambulance driver has been charged with speeding as he delivered a liver for a life-saving transplant.
The decision to prosecute was branded a disgrace last night by his union and an MP.
They said Mike Ferguson was clearly on an emergency mission.
Mike, 56, was snapped doing 104mph by a camera on the A1.
He had blue lights flashing on his ambulance service Vauxhall Vectra, which is converted for transporting organs and blood.
And it happened at 3.30am, when traffic was light and road conditions were said to be good.
But Mike, who has an unblemished record after 36 years of driving, could now be banned — and sacked from his job.
He works for the West Yorkshire ambulance service and was rushing the liver from St James’s Hospital, Leeds, to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.
First he was caught at 104mph in Lincolnshire then at the same speed in Cambridgeshire 30 minutes later.
Cambridgeshire police decided not to charge him after hearing his explanation.
But their Lincolnshire counterparts — backed by the Crown Prosecution Service — pursued it.
The outcome could have serious implications for Britain’s ambulance services and a transplant programme which depends upon organs being transferred at speed.
John Durkin, regional secretary of the GMB union, said: “We are in the business of saving lives, not trying to destroy them.”
GMB officer Gary Baker added: “Delivering organs in good condition to meet the demands of desperately ill patients may not be possible if it becomes necessary to keep to the speed limit.”
And Wakefield’s Labour MP David Hinchliffe, chairman of the Commons Health Select Committee, said: “It’s disgraceful somebody should be prosecuted in these circumstances.”
Married Mike, of Birkenshaw, West Yorks, has been delivering organs for ten years and is trained in advanced driving skills.
He said: “I have no regrets about breaking the speed limit that night, because I know it helped to save a life.
“I have to ensure the organ arrives in the best possible condition and sometimes that means driving at speed. This liver needed to be moved on an emergency basis.”
Mike added that losing his licence would cost him his job.
He said: “It is a service requirement that you have a licence. So, basically, I could be sacked.”
Lincolnshire Police said: “We cannot discuss the issue because of the pending court case.”
Nobody was available for comment at Lincolnshire CPS.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003240655,00.html
By JOHN ASKILL
and MARTYN SHARPE
AN ambulance driver has been charged with speeding as he delivered a liver for a life-saving transplant.
The decision to prosecute was branded a disgrace last night by his union and an MP.
They said Mike Ferguson was clearly on an emergency mission.
Mike, 56, was snapped doing 104mph by a camera on the A1.
He had blue lights flashing on his ambulance service Vauxhall Vectra, which is converted for transporting organs and blood.
And it happened at 3.30am, when traffic was light and road conditions were said to be good.
But Mike, who has an unblemished record after 36 years of driving, could now be banned — and sacked from his job.
He works for the West Yorkshire ambulance service and was rushing the liver from St James’s Hospital, Leeds, to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.
First he was caught at 104mph in Lincolnshire then at the same speed in Cambridgeshire 30 minutes later.
Cambridgeshire police decided not to charge him after hearing his explanation.
But their Lincolnshire counterparts — backed by the Crown Prosecution Service — pursued it.
The outcome could have serious implications for Britain’s ambulance services and a transplant programme which depends upon organs being transferred at speed.
John Durkin, regional secretary of the GMB union, said: “We are in the business of saving lives, not trying to destroy them.”
GMB officer Gary Baker added: “Delivering organs in good condition to meet the demands of desperately ill patients may not be possible if it becomes necessary to keep to the speed limit.”
And Wakefield’s Labour MP David Hinchliffe, chairman of the Commons Health Select Committee, said: “It’s disgraceful somebody should be prosecuted in these circumstances.”
Married Mike, of Birkenshaw, West Yorks, has been delivering organs for ten years and is trained in advanced driving skills.
He said: “I have no regrets about breaking the speed limit that night, because I know it helped to save a life.
“I have to ensure the organ arrives in the best possible condition and sometimes that means driving at speed. This liver needed to be moved on an emergency basis.”
Mike added that losing his licence would cost him his job.
He said: “It is a service requirement that you have a licence. So, basically, I could be sacked.”
Lincolnshire Police said: “We cannot discuss the issue because of the pending court case.”
Nobody was available for comment at Lincolnshire CPS.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003240655,00.html