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Tuesday, 7 August, 2001, 07:13 GMT 08:13 UK
Inquiry examines farm death
Ambulance
The ambulance service will be under scrutiny
A fatal accident inquiry has started to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a teenager in northeast Scotland earlier this year.

Gareth Newlands, 17, was crushed to death in April when machinery fell on top of him at Blackhillock Farm, near Forres.

The teenager had been working on the farm for just one week when machinery, which he was painting, collapsed on him.

The inquiry is also focusing on why an ambulance got lost on its way to the scene of the accident.

Elgin Sheriff Court
The inquiry will be held at Elgin Sheriff Court
The Scottish Ambulance Service launched an investigation in April into the delay in dispatching medical crews to the farm.

Apparently an ambulance crew, sent from 12 miles away in Nairn, got lost and could not find Blackhillock Farm.

Alternative crews in nearby locations were also unavailable as they handled other calls.

Tuesday's fatal accident inquiry at Elgin Sheriff Court looked at evidence from the ambulance service and the circumstances leading to the accident.

This is the second time this year that lost ambulance crews have come under scrutiny.

Earlier this summer an ambulance crew, which took almost five hours to drive a patient 70 miles from Glasgow to Dumfries, was disciplined.

The two men were transferring a heart-bypass patient from Glasgow's Royal Infirmary to Dumfries Infirmary when they got lost.

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Eric Crockhart reports
"The teenager had been working on the farm for just one week when he died"
See also:

26 Jul 01 | Scotland
'Lost' ambulance crew disciplined
08 Dec 99 | Scotland
Ambulance death claim denied
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