Ambulance driver spared jail after two die in crash

A private ambulance driver who admitted causing a crash that killed a patient and another motorist days before Christmas has been given a suspended sentence.

Julie Ijere, 60, was driving on the B1506 at Moulton, near Newmarket in Suffolk, on 19 December 2023 when she had a head-on collision with a Volkswagen Golf.

The driver of that car, 70-year-old Jane Blampied, and ambulance patient Anthony Dawbarn, 93, who Ijere was driving home from hospital, both died two days later.

At Cambridge Crown Court, Ijere, of Shakespeare Road in Stowmarket, was sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment, suspended for 30 months, and also disqualified from driving for five years.

Ijere previously admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving at Ipswich Magistrates' Court in April.

According to Suffolk Police, in 2023 she had been driving a patient ambulance operated by a private transport service.

In the rear of the ambulance was another employee of the company and two patients, one of whom was Dawbarn.

Police said Blampied was driving in the opposite direction when the ambulance drifted into her path, causing a collision that resulted in the ambulance tipping on its side.

Both victims were taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge where they died two days later, on 21 December.

Police said CCTV from the area and dashcam footage just before the crash showed the ambulance crossed the broken white lines in the middle of the road into the path of Blampied.

They said there was no evidence found of distractions from inside the ambulance or that Ijere had been interacting with her phone.

They added she had been on prescription medicine at the time, but there was also no evidence to suggest it had affected her ability to drive safety.

Ijere will have to re-take her driving test as well as carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and a 15-day rehabilitation activity programme.

She was also ordered to pay a £500 victim surcharge and £187 in costs.

Det Insp Dave McCormack, of the Serious Collisions Investigation Unit at Suffolk Police, said it had been a "tragic" case.

"It has taken a long time to be brought to court and I thank the families for their patience," he said.

"Julie Ijere has pleaded guilty and therefore taken responsibility, however this still doesn't give the families the answer as to what caused the collision.

"This is understandably a cause of frustration for them."

He added that drivers "must fully recognise" they have a responsibility to other road users to drive safely.

At a previous hearing, Ijere's defence barrister said their client, who had worked in the healthcare industry for many years, was "certainly genuinely remorseful" and had "almost become a recluse".

At the time, District Judge Matthew Bone added that the defendant said she could not remember the moments leading up to the crash.

"She was not behaving recklessly or speeding, but this was a serious failure of driving," he said.

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