Suspended paramedics await appeal hearing verdict

A decision is being considered into an appeal case involving two Jersey paramedics following the death of a man in their care.

John Sutherland, 66, and technician Tom Le Sauteur, 36, were found guilty in June of failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of Frazer Irvine, 39, who had a heart attack following a drugs overdose on 18 March 2022.

The incident happened while paramedics and police were at Mr Irvine's home in Trinity, with Mr Le Sauteur and Mr Sutherland each sentenced to a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £500 costs.

Jersey's Court of Appeal is set to give its verdict on Wednesday.

The pair were suspended by Jersey's ambulance service, pending an internal investigation.

At the original trial in June, it was ruled Mr Le Sauteur and Mr Sutherland had waited too long to treat Mr Irvine or not acted quickly enough when they thought he might have been having a heart attack.

During the appeal hearing, the advocates of Mr Le Sauteur and Mr Sutherland played video from police bodycams which they said showed the pair had followed guidelines on wearing protective equipment after Mr Irvine was sick.

The video also showed Mr Irvine unconscious on the steps outside a block of flats being tended by the two male paramedics.

The pair's advocates added the men could not have known that Mr Irvine was in danger of having a heart attack and said some of the original court findings were wrong.

The advocates also did acknowledge with hindsight the pair might have acted differently.

Prosecutors argued expert witnesses in the original trial had been right to say the paramedics did not act quickly enough to make sure Mr Irvine's airways were clear so he could breathe properly.

They added witnesses said the pair did not make use of equipment available to them in the ambulance to help Mr Irvine recover.

The paramedics were in court for the appeal, wearing their uniforms.

The appeal continues.

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