Ambulance driver kills patient and motorist

A private ambulance driver who admitted causing a crash which killed both a patient and another motorist just days before Christmas will be sentenced next month.

Julie Ijere, 59, of Shakespeare Road, Stowmarket, Suffolk, was driving on the B1506 at Moulton on 19 December 2023 when she had a head-on collision with a Volkswagen Golf.

The driver of that car, Jane Blampied, 70, and Anthony Dawbarn, 93, who Ijere was driving home from hospital in her Fiat Patient Transport Ambulance, died two days later.

The defendant was charged with two counts of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving. At Ipswich Magistrates' Court, she was told she would be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court in July.

Magistrates' courts can impose custodial sentences of up to 12 months, but District Judge Matthew Bone said in this case a 12-month sentence was "not sufficient enough".

He said that sending the case to the Crown Court would "ensure the case is dealt with properly".

"I want to express my sincere condolences to the families - I recognise you have lost much-loved family members in what can alone be described as tragic circumstances," he added.

"Nothing that happens in this courtroom can undo that loss, and no sentence can truly reflect the scale of loss felt by the families."

During the sentencing hearing, the court heard how Ijere had been travelling in the ambulance alongside a colleague and two patients at about 19:30GMT.

One of those patients was Dawbarn, who was being transported from West Suffolk Hospital to an address in Newmarket.

Ijere was driving on the westbound carriageway when her vehicle "drifted" onto the eastbound carriageway and into the path of Blampied's vehicle.

Emergency services attended the scene and Dawbarn and Blampied were taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where they both died on 21 December.

The prosecution argued that the crash had resulted in "two sad deaths" and should be heard at the crown court.

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

"My client does accept responsibility for this accident and would give anything to reverse the consequences," they said.

"Since this event her life's course has changed."

District Judge Bone added that the defendant had said she could not remember the moments leading up to the collision.

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

Ijere will be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court the week commencing 27 July.

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